


Introspective

by flanby, mishhinggyuu



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Fluff, Gen, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), OT12 (EXO), Time Skips, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 60,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26365999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flanby/pseuds/flanby, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mishhinggyuu/pseuds/mishhinggyuu
Summary: A modern-legend about how twelve young runaway boys receive peculiar powers and are forced to learn how to use them. When things get a little out of hand, they fight to protect each other as they face the world.Time will do tell what’s bound to happen, but the past is already set in stone,and the present is all about remembering what was forgotten.
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue: Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

> WE'RE DOING IT!!!!! We're finally posting this here!!!! I'm excited.  
> We poured our hearts and souls into this _long_ story and finally, with the determination to finish it... Here it is!!!
> 
> Also please forgive us with the prologue... We struggled.  
> \- Saki & Mish

_Solidarity brought them together, but with time, they were cast apart_

_Darkness advances first, followed by the zephyr of uncertainty that brewed, assigned a mission destined to prove severe_

_Ignorant of lost memories, the dragon, sheltered by the forgiving hands of winter, is strained by the upheaval of power and morality_

_The sun slowly ascends beyond the meadow, reflecting light off the murky waters that threaten to consume the land above_

_As thunder engulfs the sky, the mind’s eye inaugurates the bridge between the oblivious and the wise_

_The phoenix, blinded by his own inferno, is guided by the shadow casted by light’s malevolence_

_As nature’s guardians bring forth unity among all life, one will stand alone, faced with death and its bearings_

_Only when the eleven regain what was lost, will they find that time will move again_

_Time can only heal what past and present muddle, leaving the future an endless spiral of unknown_


	2. Autumn

“Did you get everything on the list?”

Sehun’s hands are shaking excitedly with a nervous smile on his face, grasping tightly to the straps of his worn out backpack. The group hides below the stairway leading to a nearby alley with condos atop small, old market shops. They rummage through their spoils and take out each item vigorously, adding each to the small pile in the middle of them whilst checking off the list as they go. Yet, Sehun’s hands remain hidden in his bag, his smile just as awkward as before.

“Gumdrops… Jelly ropes… Candy buttons...” Kai mutters, hovering the pen over one of the check boxes on his notepad. “Where are the jawbreakers?”

Tao shrugged while flipping his bag upside down. The empty candy wrappers and spare coins all fall out of the bag, making him hum in thought.

“I don’t know…” He replies, popping a gum drop into his mouth despite the Kai’s instructions not to do so. “I didn’t think that was my part of the job.”

“Well, if Tao doesn’t have it… Sehun, do you have it?”

Sehun looked back at Kai with uneasy eyes, glancing away as soon as they made eye contact. He shakes his head and fondles with the item in his bag.

“I didn’t grab it, but…” He pauses, already aware of the angry glint in Kai’s eyes. “I got something better.” He pulls out a plastic bag and unknots the tie, dumping whatever it contained on top of everything else.

Tao’s eyes light up, mouth gaping and hand immediately snatching up one of candies Sehun dropped. “Woah,” he gasps, inspecting the wrapper and ripping open the corner. “Candy rings?!”

Sehun is just as excited as Tao, grinning with relief that at least one person wasn’t mad. “I know!” He whispers delightfully. “I got, like, fifteen of them- for all of us! But here,” he passes one to Kai who’s especially surprised, but worry spreads across his face like an open book. “I got us two each. A little snack for now.”

Tao is already licking happily at his ring, and Sehun boasts about the trouble of obtaining them, but Kai is looking like he’s about to start crying.

“Sehun, this is great and all, but it wasn’t what we were asked to get!” He cried, rummaging through the wrappers in panic. “Are you _positive_ that you didn’t pick up any jawbreakers while you were in there?”

Joy dying down, Sehun furrows his brows with a frown. He doesn’t even need to answer before Kai is kicking his feet in a whine.

“We’re going to get in _so_ much trouble. They asked for jawbreakers- not,” he picked up one of the candy rings and lightly flung it up in the air, “This!”

Kai rubs his face with his hands in frustration, and Tao stops eating the candy sadly. The street lights eventually began to flicker on one by one as the sun went down, and in return, the moon shone brightly in the sky. 

“I’m sorry,” Sehun apologizes wistfully, head drooping in guilt. “That seemed a lot better at the time, so I…”

“You don’t think they will let us off the hook, do you?” Tao asks in an attempt to brighten up the mood. “Maybe if we’re good enough, they will let this all slide.” 

“Let’s just head back before they automatically disqualify us for being late.” Kai groaned, shoveling the remaining items into his bag. His lips pressed together in annoyance, but also fear.

Tao and Sehun followed suit, Sehun looking dejectedly down at his finger that was adorned with the sugary jewel. As they made their way away from the city side, the three boys couldn’t help but think about what was going to happen. It was already nerve-wrecking that they were heading back later than planned, but more so since they didn’t even fully complete the list they were specifically instructed to carry out.

The three young boys hoped for the best, anyways.

* * *

The hideout was a bit further away from the main city, hugging the edge of the town just beyond the wired fence. It clearly screamed danger from the “DO-NOT-ENTER” sign hung almost every ten steps away from each other, the print sloppily scrawled out in red paint. Barbed wire lined the top of the fence, adding to the creepy feeling that the slums emitted; but this was the third time they had approached the hideout. The three boys began to pay less attention to the frightening exterior and more towards what went on within the fences.

Kai pushed against the small hole in the fence purposely made as an entrance that led outside, keeping it open long enough for the other two to pass through with ease. Letting the chains go, they chimed against each other and shook lightly. They all snuck past the knee-high grass and towards the dark forest.

The hideout wasn’t actually too far from town; in fact, right as they entered, the familiar shouts and laughter were heard from the abandoned cottage that awaited their return. All looking at each other one final time, they pressed forward anxiously, crossing their fingers in hopes that their little stunt wouldn’t get them in too much trouble. 

At the entrance of the house, Kai was about to knock on the door when it swung open on its own, almost inviting them in despite the lack of a being to greet them formally. The house grew ominously silent, and as they slowly walked in, nine pairs of eyes greeted them. Some were welcoming while others seemed to pay no attention to the three newcomers awkwardly standing in the center of the room. They couldn’t help but stare at who was sitting atop the mountain of dusty books and worn out cushions. Nudging one another to make the first move, Kai was pushed out by Tao who, in return, was given a nasty glare. 

“Uhh, w-we got the stuff you asked for…” Kai murmured, his voice barely reaching the ears of anyone out of a two feet radius.

“Did I ask you to speak? And why is your voice so quiet? Speak louder for crying out loud!” The boy roared, making Kai flinch from his booming voice.

Kai stood dumbfounded while sputtering out gibberish, not knowing whether he should repeat himself or stay silent just like he was told to do. One of the boys giggled at him, wide eyes crinkling from his dainty smile, making Kai blush all the way to his toes.

“Stop being so mean to them, Kris. They’re the ones doing your dirty work for you, anyways.” Another boy called out, kicking Kris’ so called “throne”. It would have made him topple down if it weren’t for his fast reflexes.

“Shut up, Chen!” he snapped at the sly-looking boy. Chen just smiled deviously in return, Kris shaking his head and returning his attention to the other three. “Anyways, did you all bring me what I asked?”

This time, Kai knew what to do. He swung his backpack out in front of him, dumping out its contents before Kris who looked interested at the plethora of colors raining out from the bag. 

“Gumdrops, jelly ropes, oh Kris, look! They even got the candy buttons!” Another youth said with glee, eyes already frenzied from the sight of all of the sugar.

“What about the jawbreakers?” 

Tao, Kai and Sehun all looked at one another before Sehun was shoved out in the front by a desperate Tao once again. He stood before Kris who towered over him, despite him himself also being tall for his age. Fidgeting nervously in place, he took his own bag and allowed everything inside to fall, the wrappers crinkling as they dropped down to the floor.

“HOLY CRAP! HE GOT US CANDY RINGS, TOO?!” The same frenzied child shouted, already on his knees and grabbing as many of the individual packets as he could.

“PARK CHANYEOL, YOUR LANGUAGE!”

Chanyeol cowered at the sound of being reprimanded, hanging his head low while placing all of the candy rings back in the pile one by one. Suho sighed and grabbed a candy ring before handing it back to him, chuckling at how his mood did a complete 180 at the sight of candy again. He took two more rings and cheered as he recited exactly what happened to another shorter boy, giving him some as well. 

“Baek, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me just now!” He blurted out, already continuing his story without an answer back.

“I am literally three feet away from there, Chanyeol, you don’t have to tell me again!” He barked. “You’re so stupid!” 

Chanyeol yelped and apologized profusely, begging like a little puppy so that Baekhyun would forgive him. Kris looked over at the candy on the floor, kicking them around with his foot and searching for a certain type. Unable to find what he wanted, he shot a cold glare at Sehun, Kai and Tao before scoffing and crushing one of the candy rings under his shoe.

“No jawbreakers.” He stated coldly, not even looking up to speak properly to anyone in particular.

The three broke out in a cold sweat, even more afraid than before.They stood frozen before the leader of the house, too shocked to move an inch from their place.

“You didn’t complete our request. You can’t join our club.”

Sehun opened his mouth, his voice high pitched in fear. “B-But I-”

“No buts!” Kris sneers, turning sharply and storming out of the living room and into one of the bedrooms. The house grows intensely quiet.

One of the other leaders, Suho, walked up to the three whose heads hung low dejectedly with a warming smile. He put his hand on Sehun’s shoulder and pulled him in closer.

“Don’t worry,” he sighs. “You guys have more chances. He’s just a bit stubborn.”

Their faces brightened just a bit. “Do we really?”

“Uhm, no. They don’t.” Kris butted in, reappearing in the room but shrinking away when Suho spun around to look at him.

“You will, but to be honest, some of us would have let you into the club anyways since the initiation was never official until you guys showed up.” 

“WHAT?!” They all exclaimed in unison.

Sehun turned to look at Kris who was content with munching on some of the gumdrops they had brought back, completely forgetting about the “so very important” jawbreakers that he made a huge deal over.

“We're making it harder to join because we don't have much room for more people. But it’s alright since you guys can try again, right Kris?” The doe eyed boy chimed, looking up at Kris who was currently chewing on some of the other candies.

“Sure, but this time the task will be much harder.” He replied nonchalantly.

Sehun, Kai and Tao all didn’t care and cheered internally at the thought of getting another chance. They liked how homely the place was, despite how small the cottage was when housing all twelve kids.

“You all can stay here for the night since it’s already late. Ask me or one of the other boys if you have any questions.”

“I do- uhh… Where’s the bathroom?” Sehun piped up, feeling the need to relieve himself after the encounter with the dragon.

“It’s just down that way and to the left.” Suho pointed towards the area of the shack that led to a darker part of the cottage, making Sehun tug at Kai’s shirt apprehensively.

Kai sighed and trudged forward first, leading the way so that they could make it to the bathroom before Sehun could make an accident. Following the directions given, they walked for a bit before stopping to go in the room on the left, coming face to face with a closed door. The doorknob was rusted as if no one had touched it in ages, making Sehun cringe and motion for Kai to open it for him instead. Being the level headed kid he was, Kai obeyed his friend’s request and twisted the knob, preparing to leave when he came face to face with a single eye staring back at him.

“Kris, you have to be nicer to those kids.” Suho scolded. “They’re so young.”

“Well, the oldest one is the same age as Kyungsoo, so they’re not really that young.” He shrugged, indifferent about the way he was acting.

A quiet, calming voice began, “I’ll feel bad if they do make it in. Kris is going to give them a hard time.”

Suho rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but agree one hundred percent to what Luhan was saying. He could already picture Kris making the three boys do all sorts of menial tasks that had absolutely no meaning whatsoever, just for his own personal entertainment.

A sudden screech brought him out of his daze in time to see Tao and Kyungsoo rush towards the bathroom, and he quickly followed suit, coming across another problem to solve. Sehun was on the floor with his face pressed against the wall, leaving his back facing towards a pale faced Kai, who was on the ground gasping and pointing into the bathroom at another boy who was just cackling at their misfortune. Kyungsoo was already on the ground rubbing soothing circles into Kai’s back while Sehun was crawling into the bathroom, his hand clutching against his crotch desperately. Tao was quick to pull the culprit out and pin him against the wall, making his laughter stop and turn into cries of pain.

“W-What the heck is wrong with this guy?!” The boy cried out, struggling to get out of Tao’s hold without breaking any of his arms in the process.

Suho huffed and waited a few seconds for the victim to feel the pain before going over to Tao to pry him away from the other. Once he was free, he immediately turned around to face Tao with a frown on his face.

“Maybe if you didn’t try to scare them, then he wouldn’t have done that, Chen.”

“Well, maybe they should learn how to take a joke!” He shot back, stomping into the main room while rubbing his sore arms.

Sehun came out with a face of pure bliss, almost skipping back and leaving Kai who still looked like his soul had left him entirely. Kyungsoo gave Suho a knowing look before trying to help Kai to his feet, stumbling around a little before successfully draping Kai’s arm around his shoulder. They all then walked back out together to the main room to find Kris trying to explain something to Sehun who looked like he was going to pee his pants again. 

“What do you mean you ‘don’t know what that is’? God, you’re so-”

“So what, Kris?” Suho asked with a slight hiss in his voice.

“It’s nothing, but get this, Suho.” He turned to the other with his hands expressing his words. “This kid doesn’t even know what Playboy is! Can you believe that?” 

Suho’s eyes widened until his face flushed red from his cheeks to his ears, embarrassed by what Kris was trying to get at.

“It’s just a glossy, cologne smelling book made for manly fantasies to come alive.” Another boy mumbled, making everyone look at him weirdly for speaking in such a tone. His eyes drooped downward with exhaustion as he tried rubbing the sleep away.

“Go to sleep, Lay, it’s past your bedtime.” Chen sighed, placing a blanket over the poor boy, whose movements were sluggish until he fell asleep.

“Listen here, kid.” Kris began, “Playboy is a magazine that has pictures of pretty women in it.” He looked all three boys in the eye before continuing. “It’s also the next thing that you will need to get me. Your objective is to steal as many playboy magazines as you can- the more, the better.” 

Tao and Kai exchanged bewildered glances to one another, and Kris just facepalmed at their confusion. Chen saw his pain and tried to elaborate in his own words.

“It’s the magazines with almost naked ladies on it. You know, with the bow ties and the big-”

“Let's save that for another day and all get some rest! Not everyone is able to stay awake on their sugar highs.” Suho cut in, motioning towards Chanyeol and Baekhyun who were already fast asleep on top of one another. “Xiumin, can you help me get them into their futons?” 

The slightly taller boy nodded and proceeded to carry them to bed without a word, placing the two next to Lay who was snoring lightly under the covers. While they were preparing to sleep, Sehun, Tao and Kai were already tucked in, whispering to one another so that the others wouldn’t be able to hear.

“So wait, what’s a Playboy? Is it supposed to be like those people that have a lot of girlfriends?” Tao asked curiously.

“No, Chen said something about big- something... Maybe they’re fat?” Sehun commented, recalling what Chen was talking about earlier.

“Oh my god, Sehun, you can’t just call people fat.” Kai hissed before turning over to face away from the two. “Whatever. We can talk about it in the morning. Go to sleep, we’re going to need it.”

Sehun and Tao both whined in unison, ready to try and convince Kai to stay awake a bit longer before Suho turned the lights off, making it too awkward to speak in such a quiet environment. 

Oddly enough, they slept peacefully, almost as if they were meant to be there all along.

* * *

“Today,” Kai breathes, nodding his head once firmly. “Today, the second initiation begins.”

Both Tao and Sehun gulp at the sight of a sketchy store on the far opposite side of the town. Nightfall has begun and the store’s dim lights are much eerier compared to the others. The beer and tobacco advertisements that stuck to the windows told them that they didn’t belong, and probably never will.

“We have to get it from _this_ store?” Tao nearly chokes in disbelief. “That’s kinda…”

“We have to do what Kris says,” Kai crooned. “We won’t be able to be part of the group if we don’t. It’s the only place we belong.”

Sehun stared at the gravel underneath him, kicking and scraping the bottom of his shoe against the little rocks. “How many magazines do we need to get?”

“Let’s just grab whatever we can and get out of here!” Tao whined, hiding himself behind the wall as a couple walked out of the store, their cigarette butts making his nose crinkle.

Kai went in first, looking back to give the other two boys a quick glance before continuing with the plan. He strode up to the man at the counter and smacked the bell impatiently to alert the owner that he was present, trying to focus on his bald head so that his eyes wouldn’t trail down to what was in his hands.

“Whaddaya want, kid? Can’t you see I’m busy?” The owner grumbled, slapping his magazine down onto the glass counter before glaring Kai down.

Kai looked around to see if anybody was nearby before talking. “I-I need to buy some beer.” His small voice uttered out, looking up at the man that was at least three times his height.

Despite the man’s lack of hair and wrinkled features, Kai still felt uneasy by how big the man’s build was. He seemed to be in his late forties and scoffed once he spoke, already having his eyes roam back to the page he was reading with the picture of the lady in a sleek black bunny suit.

Meanwhile, Tao and Sehun had silently snuck into the shop, hiding away from the view of the shop owner behind the toiletries and dollar sale chocolates.

“You’re just a kid, so why don’t you get yourself some candy and get out of here.” 

Kai wanted to say something a normal kid wouldn’t say, but bit back his words while ringing the bell again to get the man’s attention.

“My dad wants it now, and he said that if you sell it to me, I can give you what’s left of all of the money in his card.” He lies.

This brought the owner’s own greed to light, having him practically fling the magazine off to the side to pay full attention to the kid that was only focused on the large mirror above them, making sure that his two friends were already starting to initiate the plan.

“So, what would you like to buy, kid?” The owner cooed, making the hair on Kai’s neck stand up. His lips pressed together in a gulp.

“I want two cases of beer, a bottle of whiskey and the best cigarettes you’ve got.”

Sehun has the bag open wide as Tao grabs whatever’s left of the intensely provocative magazines, spattered with all kinds of women in various revealing costumes. He takes a quick look at one of the magazines and immediately flushes red at the sight of the woman laying atop a shiny sports car. He shoves about seven in the bag before signaling to Sehun.

Sehun nods, closing the bag and grabbing a rock from his pocket, and a good few seconds of aiming later, he chucks it at one of the freezers in the back. The crash makes both Kai and the owner of the shop jump, the owner’s expression darkening as he lifts up part of the counter and shoves the boy out of the way.

Kai eyes him for just a bit before snatching the magazine off the table and darting out of the store, jumping up and hitting the bell to alert Tao and Sehun. Holding the door open, Tao comes dashing out with him and they hide behind two pillars in front of the shop. When Sehun takes an unreasonably long time to return, both Kai and Tao fear the worst.

Sehun is running along with Tao until something catches his eye behind the checkout counter. There’s a set of vibrant spinning tops on display that put him in a trance, and slowly moving towards them, he sticks his hands out to grab the shiny, white box.

A rather large hand grips his wrist, startling him. When he looks up to find the owner staring down at him, he nearly faints right then and there. He’s fuming, his grip tightening and hand reaching for his bag.

Sehun’s tugging away as much as he can, but it’s no use. The older man is gripping the collar of his shirt, lifting him up to get a good look at him, and Sehun’s toes are just barely touching the floor.

“Look what you did, kid.” He growls, turning Sehun so he could have a clear view of the back of the shop. One of the freezers’ glass is shattered, spread out all over the floor in both large and small pieces while some of the glass bottles pour out their liquids that make the store reek of liquor and cheap wine. “You’re going to have to pay for that.”

Sehun grunts trying to free himself, but it’s only making him more and more exhausted. He looks out the window to find Kai and Tao peering into the store with horrified expressions, their mouths hanging open and fogging up the glass.

In a state of terror, Sehun gazes back at the owner and around the room for some sort of escape. His breathing is suddenly incredibly heavy from panic, and out of adrenaline, he slips his bag over his shoulder and slings it into the gum rack.

The rack topples over with a crash into the owner, who drops Sehun and stumbles back further behind the checkout. He scrambles to his feet and proceeds to push down the large cigarette stand, blocking the two from each other.

Sehun’s about to leave, but not without seeing two other men come bursting through the back door, looking around and gluing their eyes to Sehun once putting two and two together. As quickly as he could, Sehun snatches the box from the back shelf and makes a break for it, some of the tops spilling out onto the floor.

He doesn’t even stop to say a word to Kai or Tao, because by the time he’s out the door, there’s _three_ angry men chasing after them. Sehun’s furthest ahead, but Kai and Tao eventually catch up. They’re turning aimlessly around corners and past side streets, cars honking as they dodge them swiftly and people yelling as they bump into their sides. At a final dead end, the three stare up at the red brick wall, heaving with their hands on their knees and chests bursting from fatigue.

“Did we lose them?” Tao pants, wiping the sweat that beaded at his forehead. “I can’t run...anymore…”

“I…” Sehun’s about to speak, but Kai is already pushing him against the alleyway wall, both extremely angry and fatigued from all the running.

“You IDIOT!!!” He yells, shaking him violently. “Why do you keep doing things you’re not supposed to do?! Do you not know how to follow instructions at all?!”

Sehun’s eyes grow wide from his sudden shouting; his arms start to ache as Kai’s hold grows tighter. The other starts to get a bit irritated, but he knows he can’t do anything if he’s the one constantly at fault.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun pouts, averting his eyes from Kai’s indignant gaze. “I always end up taking what I shouldn’t, and…”

“Guys-”

“Do you want to be part of the group or not?” Kai deadpanned, tightening his hold on Sehun’s arms that were already bruised from the chase.

“Uhm, guys, we should probably-”

“Of course I do!” Sehun shot back, offended that Kai would even think otherwise.

“Well, then start acting like it! The moment you forget what it is we are trying to do, you always end up screwing something up and-”

“GUYS!” Tao screamed, his voice bouncing off the alley walls and immediately snapping them out of their little strife.

Sehun and Kai both turned to find a giant stained shirt in front of them, making their eyes look higher and higher until stopping on a familiar burly man. They didn’t even have the chance to scream before he brought his hand up, swinging it down with great force and hitting Sehun’s cheek.

“I fuckin’ hate kids, man.” One of them spat, using his shoe to kick Kai square in the chest and making him sail right onto his back.

Tao couldn’t do anything but watch as the two men grabbed his precious friends, throwing them around like sacks of rice as they struggled to break free. He wanted to go and at least try to help, but his knees were locked and it seemed as though his feet were cemented into the ground. His eyes darted from the brutal scene to a shadow moving to his left, whipping around to find the shop owner with blood trickling down the side of his head.

“You’re next, you shitty brat.” 

Tao stumbled back and nothing but darkness enveloped him, making his heartbeat race until a scream ripped from his throat. The next thing he knew, something heavy pinned him down and tears were already starting to well up in his eyes, the pain of not seeing his friends one more time striking daggers into his heart. He held his eyes shut and braced for impact, but the pain of a fist digging into his gut wasn’t what made his skin crawl. Rather, a chilling feeling drapes across his skin, and it’s only when Sehun speaks that he finally opens his eyes again.

“Holy shit…”

The man above him has his fist up high, mid-thrust and sweat inert in the air. Not even the wind is moving a hair on their heads, and when he turns his head slowly, the scene before him leaves him bewildered.

All three attackers were completely motionless.

“W-What the hell…” Kai gasped. Tao crawls out from under the violent shop owner, standing up with shaky legs.

“Holy shit!!! That’s not me! Is that you?” Sehun looks at Kai who shakes his head quickly. “Dude Tao, you’re like a superhero or something!”

Tao panics, looking around at the men who still have not moved. “I-I don’t know what’s going on-”

“It’s ok!” Kai reassured the both of them. He grabs Sehun’s arm and jogs over to Tao. “Let’s just get out of here for now!”

As soon as they turn the corner of the alley, the small bunch examine the sight in pure shock. The cars, from what they see, are mere colored blurs against the dark streets. Pedestrians walking have one foot above the ground, bodies leaving a smudged trace of movement behind them.

“Wait guys!” Sehun pipes up, making the two other boys divert their attention towards the youngest.

Taking the bag from Tao’s hold, he ran towards the shop and waved them over, motioning for them to help him pry the automatic doors open. Once they got in, he unzipped the bag and began to cram even more Playboy magazines into the bag, even using his foot to try and get more to fit.

“Why don’t we just take those bags?” Tao pointed towards the rack of beach bags and the boys all grinned at one another, taking two bags each and filling them to the brim of anything they could get their hands on. 

From candies to hot pockets, there was almost nothing that they didn’t take, sparing nothing for the shop manager that had given them hell a few minutes ago. Sehun had already packed up any other magazines that looked similar to Playboy and was currently stuffing his second bag full of toys, swiping the boxes of tops and light up propellers to take back. Tao was in his own little world, looking in the miniature clothes section and filling one of his bags with clothes in his size. The other bag was filled with instant foods and anything that had bright, colorful print on the packaging.

Compared to the two children galavanting around the shop, Kai was picking out his objects individually, already having one bag full of microwavable chicken and little dog magnets that he found by the front counter. He remembered that the others would probably be pretty happy to get things and this way, he could rub it in Kris’ face without having to verbally speak to the giant. Making sure to get everyone in the club, he made a list with a nearby clipboard that the shop owner had hid behind his desk.

Things to bring back to be cooler:

  * glow sticks
  * marshmallows
  * lighters
  * animal plushies
  * small box of pororo band aids
  * graham crackers 
  * chocolates
  * chopsticks 



Being that he really wanted to impress the others, he tried thinking of things that they’d like, but he didn’t want everyone to get an action figure or else it defeated the entire purpose. Plus, he didn’t want to make them feel burdened, so he made sure to grab the smallest and least priced things. _Smores sounded like a good bonding tactic, right?_

When everyone was finished, they hauled their bags out of the shop and dragged themselves back to their base.

* * *

Time seemed to have slowly returned to normal once Tao started getting worn out from walking too much, but soon enough, they were back at the front of the cabin with sheen sweat soaking up the tips of their fringes. They knocked on the door again, the chatter inside dying down at the sound of guests, and when they threw the bags onto the floor, everything toppled over. The rug flooded with all kinds of knick knacks and snacks, and the shock in everyone’s faces didn’t even compare to Kris’, he being the one who had his mouth wide open and his eyebrows pinched together in an ugly fashion.

All at once, everyone babbled and shouted as they bounded towards the pile of goods, declaring certain items as their own. Kris was the only one completely still, staring up at the three boys who grinned brightly.

Kai especially smirked at Kris before bending over and rummaging through the piles. In the meantime, Xiumin and Suho pushed away piles of books and pillows from in front of the fireplace, patting away the dust that covered all of the cushions so that they could all gather round. Chanyeol, being the one with sticky fingers, managed to swipe the lighter that was buried under the piles of trinkets, running over to show Baekhyun who wasn’t impressed, focusing all of his time onto the glow sticks.

“See, Chanyeol?” he said aloud, making Chanyeol’s head whip around to see Baekhyun with a yellow glow stick wrapped around his head.

“Woah, you look like an angel Baek!” Chanyeol cheered, completely forgetting about the lighter to try and make his own crown.

Meanwhile, Chen was off to the other end of the room, inspecting the way that Xiumin was arranging the wood in the fireplace. The logs were neatly placed one next to the other, all aligned so straight-like that Chen’s sanity flew out the window. Pushing Xiumin to the side, he stacked the logs so that they formed a teepee in the fireplace. Chen was about to begin making the fire when Xiumin placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, wandering off towards Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s light show. 

Xiumin didn’t even ask before diving his hand into Chanyeol’s pocket, pulling out the lighter and walking over to the fireplace once more to help Chen practice more modern techniques. Taking his thumb, he pressed it down against the metal cog and allowed the gas to ignite before creating the spark, lighting a small piece of paper before tossing it onto the pile. It began to burn brightly, only to be put out before even charring the wood. 

“Need help, Xiumin?” Chanyeol asked, popping in out of nowhere and just taking the lighter anyways.

He went back towards the middle of the room and gathered together all of the rubbish, the job not being as hard since Suho was already starting to toss everything into an oversized trash bag. Taking that from him as well, Chanyeol dumped out all of the trash into the fireplace and took a few of Kai’s finished chicken bones before adding it all together. The corners of his lips drew upwards as his eyes grew wild with anticipation with what was to happen next.

Taking a few steps back, Chanyeol struck a flame onto the chicken and squealed delightedly when it caught fire, adoring how brightly the orange flame licked at his hand still coated with a bit of grease. Dropping the chicken below, he waited for a second before the entire pile roared to life, the gum wrappers and loose paper scraps igniting all together. He looked like he had just created the world’s most innovative invention yet, while Xiumin on the other hand was mortified by how fast the fire was growing, taking a good five steps back and away from Chanyeol. 

“God, Chanyeol, that’s dangerous! You should be careful before doing something like that!” Suho warned, his words coming to deaf ears as Chanyeol paid his words no heed.

Watching the small flame blossom into something so great made Chanyeol mesmerized, the hue of the fire changing as more of the colored wrappers were consumed by its wrath. He tried reaching behind him to try and sneak more of the trash littered about, but Suho hastily pulled him back to prevent their house from catching fire.

Each and every boy was gathered around, chatting amongst themselves while stuffing their faces with smores and chocolate. Sehun was busy stuffing his face with another smore when he spotted Kris across the way, not even touching any of the smores that were already made. 

“Why aren’t you eating smores Kris?” he asked aloud, making everyone turn to look at Kris who sat quietly on the side.

“Smores… I don’t like them.” 

Sehun raised a brow and looked at Kris with a confused expression. _How could one not like smores?_ The sweet taste gliding across one’s tongue as the sugar ran straight to your brain and made you itch to want to get up and run a marathon. 

“He probably didn’t even try it. Here Kris, try this!” 

Kris shook his head, but Tao was already in front of him with a smore in his hand, cramming the dessert into Kris’ mouth. Nobody dared speak as Kris ate, waiting for some kind of doom to befall Tao for being so reckless. 

“See, it’s not that bad, yeah?” Tao chirped, sitting right next to him while grabbing another.

Kris stayed quiet as he chewed slowly, dreading the sudden attention he was getting. He mumbled under his breath with a small blush, putting a loose finger to his mouth to prevent anybody from looking.

“What was that?” Xiumin asked, across from him. Kris stopped for a long time, and when he slowly reached his hand out for another, with a small smile on his usual stone faced expression.

The mission was long, but the spoils were worth the time, as the twelve boys all enjoyed the rest of the night as one big group together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this story <33333
> 
> -Saki


	3. Autumn pt.2

The autumn leaves that coated the streets began to shrivel as October relaxed into a calmer November. It was the time of the year where everyone prioritized family, not making any sort of effort to leave the house in exchange for family bonding. 

Nearly two months had passed since Sehun, Kai and Tao had officially joined the rebellious bundle of nine boys, now twelve and more laid back than ever. Being able to live in the same house with so many of them proved to be a challenge, but it wasn’t too bad. They eased into the group easily, or so they had made themselves believe.

The actual amount of trouble they had gotten into just to earn their acceptance into the group was astonishing. Like the others had proved worthy of doing, the three boys stole and snatched anything that was asked for, not even caring about consequences. It was a horrible thing to do, most certainly bad for their reputation, but it wasn’t like they had one to begin with, anyways.

Yet here they were, in the same lodge as they had dreamt of being in for so long, with smiles on their faces and new friends to share their abundance of joy with.

“I heard that the supermarket is closed for the night,” Chen starts with his usual cunning grin. “I was thinking we could break in. Maybe we could bring the new guys?”

“We haven’t done one of those in a while…” Suho hummed, fidgeting with a candy wrapper in his hands. “I’m getting sick of candy. We should get some _real_ food.”

Kai sprawled himself out across the sofa, lightly tapping buttons on his portable gaming device as Baekhyun and Chanyeol watched curiously. “Break-in?” He repeats, “You guys do break-ins?”

Suho nods. “They’re a bit more dangerous than regular shoplifting, I have to admit, but we get good stuff out of it.”

“We can actually use the kitchen…” Lay fantasizes, staring at the unused section of their cottage that accumulated blankets of dust and dirt over the past months.

“Does this mean that we’re all going together?” Luhan inquired, his words making all of the boys turn to beam at one another with gummy grins and smirks.

Chanyeol stood up first and darted off, shortly returning with an oversized luggage suitcase. “I’m ready to go!” He said firmly, saluting in a military like fashion. 

More boys followed suit, getting themselves ready with empty worn out bags and flashlights, making sure to pack batteries and other things that might be needed. Sehun waddled out to the front door with his bag already sagging past the back of his knees, catching the eyes of those who were bewildered by how his bag looked bigger than his own body.

“Sehun, why are you taking so much stuff?” Suho asked curiously.

Shrugging his shoulders without thinking much, he didn’t notice Luhan standing behind him, already unzipping his bag and pulling out random toys and a white box, almost spilling out its contents. 

“Hey, be careful! Everything would’ve come out if you opened it like that.” Sehun scolded Luhan, making Luhan roll his eyes and open the box anyways.

The box was jam packed full of tiny fireworks; from pop pops to fire flowers, even to bottle rockets, all somewhat neatly arranged together in a little box.

Chanyeol gasped and stuck his hand into the box, pulling out one of the smaller fireworks before attempting to light it with his lighter. He managed to ignite the wick before Sehun grabbed the entire piece and lobbed it outside with a short yelp.

“Chanyeol, are you crazy?!” Sehun screeched, earning a confused look from Chanyeol to his dismay. 

“That was a ground bloom, you idiot! You could’ve set something on fire!” 

Chanyeol blinked and snapped out of his daze once hearing the subtle whirring noise in the distance, still not saying anything as he heard the loud “pop” as it exploded.

“Sehun, language!” Suho warned as usual, making Sehun step down and put his fireworks back in his bag silently. “Don’t take all of that. Just keep your toys at home.”

Sehun whined a little before Suho spun around, giving him a glare that froze deep into the depths of his soul. Immediately following his orders, he went back into one of the rooms, dropped his bag and grabbed a new, thicker one instead, secretly stashing his box of pyrotechnics in it before running out the door. With the others in hot pursuit, they all traveled back out to the outside world, ditching the comfort of their little hideaway to enter into the big city.

It was a big group, and a pack of twelve kids wandering around the city at this hour was bound to attract attention. They all walked in small bunches or stayed hidden in the shadows, never crossing paths within the moon’s light or before another person. This was the time when the night creatures roamed about, causing trouble to anyone they came across; patrol officers would be scanning each and every road, every passage and every alley without a doubt.

Taking this into consideration, Kris and Suho were always situated in the very front and very back of the troop, keeping an eye out for any suspicious movement. Kris stalked forward and peered around the corners and streets before motioning for the rest of the groups to follow, while Suho would look behind everyone every three seconds, a paranoid boy he was indeed.

Arriving at the supermarket, Xiumin already knew what to do as they closed in on the back door, pulling a metal crowbar out from his bag and laying it on the ground. He then swiped an old plastic card out from his pocket and slid it between the door and the frame, jimmying the lock until it popped with a satisfying “click”.

Almost immediately afterwards, he took the crowbar and aligned it with the lock and the aperture where the door was locked with it, pushing the two together so that they’d stay in place. 

“Make sure nobody touches the crowbar or else we might get locked in.” He said firmly, ducking underneath it and disappearing inside.

More boys followed suit and once they entered, they knew that they hit the jackpot with this store. All of the fridges were still on, frost collecting on the windows and the little lights illuminating the store. Since the blinds were closed tight, they were able to use their flashlights without having the beams show outside. Sehun ran towards the toy section first, tossing his bag on the floor so that he could focus all of his attention on the mini bubble gum machines and the light up candy lightsabers. Chanyeol wandered off to the front counter and began to eye out the different kinds of lighters on display when someone tapped his shoulder. 

“We should look at what’s in Sehun’s stash of fireworks.” Chen grinned, hands already holding the so said bag of joy.

Chanyeol grinned happily and much less evilly than the other, but took a step back when he remembered what Sehun had told them earlier. “Wait, but Sehun said we can’t use them or else we’d set everything on fire.” 

Chen rolled his eyes and took the white box out anyways, putting all of the items on display for the two of them to see. 

“So? As long as we don’t light anything, he won’t get mad, right? Plus, we’re older than him so he’s supposed to be respectful towards us.” 

Chanyeol paused to think over what logic Chen had to say, having another “aha!” moment and going along with the plan. He was already dying to see what else was in there once he had seen it in Luhan’s hands, curious as to what all of the other colorful ones did. He looked over each label carefully, seeing words like “aerial bomb” and “fire snakes”, that one in particular catching his eye. _Did it explode into a snake like object or did it make hissing noises like a snake?_ Only one way to find out.

Before he knew it, Chen was half yelling, half whispering for him to keep the lighter away from the fire snake, he himself not even noticing until his lighter was lit.

“God Chanyeol, you need to learn self control!” Chen yelped, placing his hands over his head and taking cover. 

Chanyeol’s hands drew close towards each other and finally touched, allowing the ember to graze over the small pellet until it started to hold its own flame. By the time the smell of smoke reached his nose, a black stream was already emerging from his palm and left a tingling sensation on his skin before something slapped his wrist, making him drop the snake on the ground. It sizzled until shattering against the cold tile floor, all of the pieces spreading out and leaving a dark smudge of soot in its place.

He raised his head and tried to find the perpetrator to unleash his anger. Before delivering his rage, he was met with Chen, whose brows were furrowed and cheeks red. 

“Chanyeol, can you at least _try_ not getting caught?!” He practically screamed. Chen pushed Chanyeol behind the counter so that nobody could see them, going over the plan once again while the others were busy with their “thrift shopping.” 

“Oh, Kyungsoo! Look at this! Wow!” Kyungsoo groaned as Lay pulled him over to yet another section of the mini mart, pointing and ever so amazed by every single thing that had bright neon lettering across the front. “We should take this too, Kyungsoo. Put this in your bag!” 

Lay shoved a pot and pan set into Kyungsoo’s arms and ran off somewhere else, making Kyungsoo crumble to his knees while trying to keep the set up without letting it clatter to the floor.

“Here, hyung- I can get that for you.” 

Kai swooped in and placed his own open bag out under Kyungsoo’s shaking hands, managing to catch the set before Kyungsoo’s fingers gave way. The two ended up working together to try and force the bag closed, with Kai pulling the two sides together and Kyungsoo yanking hard on the zipper until the piece of plastic gave way and popped off. 

Kyungsoo held the tiny piece between his fingers and gasped after staring at it for a little while, looking at Kai with a panicked demeanor. 

“I’m so sorry Kai! Oh my god, I didn’t know that it would break, I- Damn it, why did this happen.” 

Kai laughed and shook his head, taking the broken piece from Kyungsoo’s hands and sticking it into his pocket. “No harm done. Let’s just take the pans out of the box so that we don’t have another accident.” 

Sighing and nodding his head solemnly, Kyungsoo followed orders and to his surprise, the set managed to fit into Kai’s raggedy old backpack. 

“See, Kris? Why can’t you be nice to me like that?!” Kyungsoo turned around to find Tao stomping his foot furiously, his loose laces whipping around as Kris tried to bite his lip to prevent saying something that would probably make Suho lecture him in front of everybody.

Baekhyun scoffed and flipped his hair to one side, “If he’s not nice to us, then he won’t be nice to you- HEY, YOU CAN’T BE LIKE THIS, KRIS!”

Letting his eyes roam to where Kris was, Kyungsoo found an amusing sight. Down on one knee, Kris was tying little Tao’s shoes, making sure to play along with Tao who was singing the bunny song as Kris tied his shoelaces. 

“Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree, criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me! Bunny ears, bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold~” They both sang aloud, making the shop burst into a fit of laughter from their little show. Kris finished lacing up both shoes before wandering off to a part of the store that was out of sight to most, hiding the way his cheeks burned from his performance. 

“Isn’t that something you sing when you’re like, five?” Chen snickers.

“Shut the hell up.” Kris grumbles.

“Bread, jam, eggs, chicken… Is there anything else that we need?” 

Xiumin shrugged and continued shuffling through the individually wrapped rice balls, putting anything that had the word “savory” into his own personal stash. Taking in the fact that Suho only had brought one bag, he volunteered to help the kid hold any of the actual food products they needed to take back. So far, his bag was chocked full of cans of various things, including soups, vegetables, fruits and even the good ol’ fashioned instant ravioli. Suho was persistent about asking Xiumin to stop once the bag was too heavy, but seeing that all of the other boys were still grabbing useless snacks and candies, it was up to him to take home the real goods.

Suho hummed a little before scratching his head in thought, “Should we grab some utensils as well? I don’t think we have anymore at home.” He asks, looking up at Xiumin who merely shook his head.

“Lay is making Kyungsoo and Kai hold all of that.” 

“What about napkins and plates and stuff?” Suho asked, his mind trying to get everything they needed so that they wouldn’t have to come back anytime soon.

Xiumin sighed and replied back, “Baekhyun has those,” in a very bored voice, picking up a rice ball that was jam packed with kelp and red beans. He scrunched up his nose at such a combination and tossed it elsewhere while looking around for more things he could take back. 

Suho grabbed the last can of spray oil before loading it up in his own bag, being careful to have everything aligned nicely so that no accidents would occur as they went back home. “Make sure to have everything upright before we leave so that nothing gets messed up.” He warned, already adjusting the straps on his own bag before suddenly jumping up in shock.

A deafening squeal was let out into the air as something flew up with a blur. Bright sparks fell along the aisle, hitting freezer windows and the ceiling. Shouts released into the air and flashlights moved rapidly to find the source of the abrupt bang.

All eyes turned to face two boys bickering behind the front counter, their eyes totally oblivious to how many more were watching the scene with interest. Suho was especially angry at this point, his face a bright red from his bursting anger.

“PARK CHANYEOL!”

The lengthy male flinched at the booming voice from across the store, his hands already raised to plead his innocence. “IT WAS CHEN, NOT ME!” His voice croaked, whimpering as Suho came closer to their hiding spot.

Chen quickly kicked the bag of fireworks under the table and out of sight before looking up at Suho who had his palms pressed against the counter. 

“If someone doesn’t admit it, we are going straight home _right now._ ” 

Chen and Chanyeol sighed before looking down at their feet, their bodies slumped over before springing to life. 

“HE DID IT!” They chorused together, jabbing their fingers at one another and unwilling to break until one admitted defeat.

“Chen was the one that lit the bottle rocket! He did it!” Chanyeol defended, pointing poking his finger into Chen’s arm.

Grabbing Chanyeol’s lanky finger, Chen dug his nail into the skin before justifying his part. “Chanyeol was the one that lit a firework first, so if you will, you can go and scold him over there while I go and help the others take back stuff.” 

Chanyeol shrieked as his finger was pinched, shoving Chen away with a disgruntled huff. 

“Well, it was Chen’s idea to even do this in the first place!” 

“You’re the one that pushed me! I wasn’t going to light it if it wasn’t for your stupid giant hands!” 

“I didn’t push you, you stupid head! I said it was the flying rice ball that did it, not me!” 

Chen gasped and mimicked Chanyeol’s tone of voice with a bit of venom laced in his own words, “It was the flying rice ball, flying rice ball my ass! Just admit you did it already!”

“Or how about both of you just get in trouble so we can go home?” Kyungsoo muttered blatantly, wandering off as Suho’s anger meter filled to the brim.

Luckily, that was all there was to it. Noticing that there was no real damage done, Chen and Chanyeol were verbally abused by an enraged Suho for about five minutes before slinking off to do what they came here to do.

Not even minutes later, there’s a loud bang that makes every single boy in the area drop their items and freeze. It’s only then when Suho notices the red and blue flashing lights beyond the blinds of the windows, and the sudden dreadful feeling that washes over him makes him sprint down one of the aisles.

The front entrance is bombarded by a flood of officers, who ready their weapons and scout for the intruders. One in the back speaks into a megaphone with a loud voice, “We have the building surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender!”

“JOBS OVER!” Suho shouts, and just like that, there’s a stampede of twelve terrified kids heading straight for the back exit. They all flow into the storage room leading to the exit, a few members barricading the door with supply boxes and iron shelves.

Xiumin is first to jump forward, kicking the crowbar that holds the door open with such force that makes the door crash against the brick wall behind. Kris, who was close behind, managed to rush out second, only to be pushed back into the store, preventing him from advancing and placing him back where he started. 

He brushed Xiumin’s hand off his arm. “What the hell?” He growled, glaring at the said boy who wasn’t even looking his way. Xiumin pulled the door with all of his force and pushed the others right back into the store, hushing them before pressing his back to the door, his finger still lingering on his lips. 

The first shot was fired, followed by a second and a third, the bullets ricocheting from the metal door as a shrill buzz rang in their ears.

“Oh my god, they’re shooting at us? Do something, Kris!” Tao whimpered, clinging to Suho who stood paralyzed with his mind on overdrive. 

Kris’ limbs were frozen, unable to move a muscle and watching as Xiumin toppled over cabinets and tables, the furniture blocking their escape through the back door entirely. Bags full and hands shaking, they were faced with a serious dilemma and were pressed for time, the sounds of gunshots and shouting slowly drawing in towards them. 

As the rest of the boys panicked at what was lurking past the doors, Sehun was completely composed, inching as quietly as he could over to Tao before yanking him behind a rack of chips. 

“ACK! HELP, I’M BEING ATTACKED- Sehun?” Tao removed his hands from his eyes to see Sehun looking at him with a small grin on his face, the sweat running down the side of his temple. “W-Why did you... What’s happening?” 

Taking a quick peek between the spaces of the metal rack, Sehun made sure that nobody could see where they were before placing both hands on Tao’s shoulders. “We can get out of here.” 

Tao just stared at Sehun, who nodded his head affirmatively, “What are you talking about?” 

“Just use your power! You know, the one from the time that you, me and Kai were stuck in that alley? Then, we can all get out!” Sehun cheered, almost making Tao believe that it could be that easy.

Taking a deep breath, Tao ignored the smell of gunpowder in the air and tried to focus, the sounds of shots fired slowly fading until all he heard was dull thumps every few seconds. 

It obviously wasn’t that easy.

Tao heaved out a breath when he felt no pull in his gut, bending over as he shook his head. “It’s no use. I can’t do it.”

“What? Why not?” The back door rattled from the slams of the men behind it trying to break it down, making Sehun and Tao jump at how loud it suddenly got. Xiumin’s face paled when the door cracked open a bit, the shelf holding it back tilting on its wheeled hinges. 

“I’m almost in, give me a minute-”

A loud crash emerged from the back part of the store, making every head inside turn to see a man forcing his way through the cracks, pushing until he finally stumbled in. Clad in a blue uniform, he stood out in the room full of kids.

“What the- Kids? All units outside stand down, I repeat, stand down. All weapons and firepower should be put down or locked in safety.” 

Taking a few tentative steps forward, the cop watched as the kids all moved back as he got closer. They all looked like animals being cornered, the look in their eyes reflecting pure fear and anger. 

“Tao!” Sehun barked, grabbing the boy’s wrist. “Come on!!!”

Suho stepped forward next to Kris and Xiumin, the three extending their arms to protect the others behind them. The cop only continued to glare at the group, however, notably eyeing the stuffed backpacks and duffle bags around their arms and slung over their shoulders.

His intercom squeaked and changed tone as he lifted it up to his mouth. Speaking directly into it, he continues, “There’s more or less sixteen bags in here… Twelve children. Maybe ten to fifteen years old, all male...There’s a lot going on here.”

Sehun shook Tao’s wrist violently one more time, but the only thing the older could really do was shrink further back, pressing his body into the wall as best as he could. The cold metal only sent him more chills, his hands and legs jittering from the pressure of not being able to use his so-called “power”.

By this point, Sehun had given up and instead focused on the bag dangling on Chen’s right arm. A few brightly colored pieces of cardboard stuck out in different shapes and sizes, and once the image clicked in his head, he swiftly grabbed a hold of one and pressed it against Xiumin’s back.

Without turning his head, Xiumin shifted his left foot back and slid it across the cemented floor. He lightly motioned towards Chanyeol, to whom Sehun slowly moved his hand towards. He lightly snaps his fingers in a familiar motion, and within seconds, the lighter is placed in his hand and the fuse is lit.

Almost instantly, Sehun stretches his hand up to yank Xiumin down by the collar and everything happens all at once. The sparks flicker harshly against the darkened storage room, hissing as the young boy tightens his grip on the firework with shut eyes. He pleads to himself silently, ‘please work, please work, please work!’

The officer doesn’t have time to whip out his gun and take a shot before sparks are flowing out, all eyes on the golden fountain illuminating the room and right into the officer’s face. Sehun’s poor hands become victims to the burning flames, but he still holds on tight, even as his fingers and palms are set ablaze. He screams.

When the man falls to the floor with a grunt, all the boys trample over each other in an attempt to run away as fast as they could. Sehun drops the empty cone and sprints right behind them, shaking his hands and holding back the tears and sobs that well up in the back of his throat.

There’s a thud, though, that Chanyeol notices in the corner of his eye as everyone makes a run for it. One of the boys was back at the entrance of the back of the building, holding onto the handle of the door as two cops grabbed hold of his legs and waist. He doesn’t have to scream for help before Chanyeol turns on his heels, immediately rushing over to help his dear friend.

“Chen!” He calls, grabbing one of the officer’s arms and jerking away at it. He struggles against their grasps and eventually opts to kick them right where it hurts, using the dirty move to pull his friend to safety so that they could get away together. 

Tao turned around as soon as Chanyeol left his side, watching the scene unfold and giving a little cheer at how smart Chanyeol was despite how he always acted at home. He almost turned to continue running as well, until the dark gray muzzle was pointed directly at Chanyeol’s back with a click.

His sudden misfortune dawned as he turned to find them all surrounded, a long line of policemen and cars encircling them with loaded guns. Everyone stops their actions once again.

“Put the bags on the ground and hands up in the air,” a voice roared from one of the cars. “Or we will have to shoot.”

This time, not only Sehun turns to face Tao, but also Kai. Their pleading eyes are full of terror, and all at that moment, Tao begins to feel the pressure again.

It’s when one of the boys starts to run when the first shot was set off, a body crumbling to the ground in a pained heap. Tao watched with his heart beat pounding against his skull as another shot was fired, followed by another yelp and even more shots.

Then it all went quiet. No more gunshots, and even the red and blue lights stopped whirring around, allowing Tao to open his eyes without straining them against the bright lights. Unaware about the situation, he looked around for insight, only to be stunned by the amount of projectiles suspended in the air. 

He gasped and slumped to his knees. “Sehun! Kai! I did it, I-I... Actually did it!” Tao huffed out, trying to take deep breaths to calm his adrenaline high. His eyes were glowing a golden hue, the light shining bright like the stars above.

Sehun peered up at the police cars to see the sirens still, not a sound blaring from anything. The silence was almost too good to be true. He looked over at Kai who was too busy hunching over something, or rather, some _one_.

“Xiumin, are you okay?” 

Sehun scurries over as well in time to see Xiumin nod with a painful grin on his face, clutching his upper left arm that stained his dark jacket even darker. He rolled onto his right arm and strained to sit himself up with a huff. Sehun holds out his hands to help him up, but Xiumin only stares at them with pity.

“Sehun…”

Suho pushes Sehun’s shoulder and leads the young boy to the side, a brown bottle in his hands. Sehun doesn’t get to process the whole situation before Xiumin screeches in pain, the liquid burning into the thick graze that was created by the bullet. It flows clear out of the bottle, and the blood from the jacket is diluted under the continuous quick rinses. The tears finally flow out of Xiumin’s eyes like waterfalls, lips trembling and breath hitching as he huffs through each and every groan.

Suho doesn’t even speak, but there’s pain in his eyes, as well. He quickly wets a rag before patting down Sehun’s hands, revealing the blistered and uneven texture blotted red and light pink. Adrenaline dying down, Sehun finally feels the pain set in, sobs and cries rocking through his body. His hands are both wrapped in the cloth temporarily, and when Suho is done tying it securely, he pauses and looks down at the ground with a bitter expression.

“...We’re taking a break.”

Xiumin’s eyes shoot up, but he doesn’t say a word. In fact, nobody says a word. This day was the epitome of chaos, and one who wished to relive it would be nothing but a mad man.

Lay finishes binding Xiumin’s arm tightly with another shirt, giving him his thick denim jacket for extra strength. Finally able to stand with the support of someone, he takes the time to scan the area along with everyone else.

“What happened?” Luhan speaks up staring at Tao’s glowing eyes. Tao can only stare with his mouth hung slightly open, and Kai ends up having to answer his question instead.

“Tao can control time,” he answers. Everybody stays just as silent, some staring at the two of them in confusion and some with blank faces. “It sounds crazy, I know. But it’s happened before. We never had the chance to tell you guys, because it… It just sounds crazy!”

“I think we believe you.” Chen states with a low voice, hand waving in front of a line of bullets aimed straight for him. He pinches one with his fingers and curiously turns it the opposite way.

Suho nervously moves out of the way of one of the bullets. “Is this how you looted all that stuff back when you wanted to join us?” He asks, looking up at the trio who just nod stiffly in response. Technically for them, it was only that one time, but the tense atmosphere in the air prevented any of the three boys from making a move to speak.

“So, can you have it all go back to normal? The time, I mean.” Heads turn to Kris, his eyebrows scrunched together as if still perplexed by the whole idea of time control. “Not now, but…”

“It goes away when Tao starts getting tired,” Sehun answers, examining his crippled hands, tears staining his cheeks. “We don’t know when that will be, so we should start heading back soon.”

The twelve boys all grabbed whatever bags they managed to take, not daring to go back for more even with time at a stand still. Xiumin was still injured and was trudging on as he clung onto Kai, who wasn’t exactly the strongest twelve year old of the century. The rest of the boys were put in charge of the heavy bags, save Tao who was barely walking straight as is. Only holding a measly bag of chips, the air filled snack pulled on his arms, as if the contents inside were switched with lead metal. 

After barely squeezing through the door of their home, the boys all stumbled through the door one by one, tossing the bags down and collapsing somewhere in the main room. Xiumin occupied a small portion of the couch as Kyungsoo tended to his wound, allowing Chanyeol to fill the rest of it, while his head settled on Xiumin’s lap and long legs stretched over the side. Suho motioned for Lay to help him store away anything perishable, leaving the rest of their findings for another day. 

Kai set Xiumin down and looked around, finding Tao crawling his way through the front door with ragged breaths choking out from his lips. The poor boy was drenched in sweat and had carelessly flung the bag of chips in through the door to free his hands, the glow in his eyes flickering on and off before they’d completely returned to normal. Heaving himself off the arm of the couch, Kai trampled over Sehun’s sleeping body to get to Tao, hauling him in by his arms before falling onto his butt. The cottage was furnished with aged hardwood and even then, Kai felt like it was as soft as a mattress, letting his eyes shut once he saw that Tao was more or less indoors. Eventually, time slowly returned to normal once Tao finally fell asleep with the others.

* * *

Initially, Suho had planned to wake everyone up to the smell of fresh bacon and toast, but even he makes mistakes sometimes. Stirring to the sound of metallic clanging and banging, Suho opened his eyes to see Lay carelessly flinging pots across the counter and onto the stove. The amount of dust that was flying up into the air was no joke, but Lay didn’t seem to notice, continuing to grab ingredients out from the fridge and slapping them onto the counter tops. Suho wanted to get up and help, but the way that his blanket was hugging him made him lethargic, relaxing himself until he ultimately drifted back asleep. 

Kyungsoo was next to open his eyes, finding it hard to breathe with something clogging his throat. Sitting up in place, he scanned the room to find tiny bits of dust floating around around him, making him cough and sneeze even more.

He stood up and wandered over to the kitchen to see Lay sloppily mixing something with a whisk in hand, his eyes still closed shut as his arms lazily stirred. He knew that Lay wasn’t very awake, judging by how he only put the dry powder into the bowl. Putting matters into his own hands, he rolled up his sleeves and began to clear up all the dust and dirt. “Lay, can you put the eggs and stuff in the bowl by the time I get the stove cleaned up?” 

A small hum resonated from Lay’s throat as he grabbed the nearest item to drop in, this being a container of soy sauce to Kyungsoo’s dismay. “No, Lay, wait!” He squeaked. Lay’s eyes snapped open to find his frantic face directly in front of his own. 

“K-Kyungsoo?!” Lay shrieked, throwing his hands up in the air from the shock. His move not only ended up making the two collide heads, but it also flung the bowl up into the air. It levitated for a bit before gravity did its job, letting the contents rain down on the two who just coughed as the sweet mixture coated their airways. 

Suho woke up to the crash, struggling to his feet and running into the kitchen to find two ghosts looking back at him. His entire demeanor changed as the two just looked back anxiously, slowly moving towards the sink to try and wash themselves off. “Did Lay…?”

“Sorry,” the younger apologised sheepishly, ruffling his own hair to get as much powder off as possible. “I can’t help it.”

The leader just shook his head, trudging forward to lean on the counter. He glances over to the living room, only to find it strangely unlively without the presence of loud, screaming boys on their sugar high. “Do you know where the others went?”

Lay and Kyungsoo looked at Suho confusedly, bewildered as to why he would ask such a question if he were just sleeping next to them. Suho side stepped to reveal their sleeping arrangements, seeing that only Kris, Luhan and Xiumin’s head were in their futons asleep. That meant that another six boys were running amuck, and there was a strong possibility of getting into some sort of trouble if Suho didn’t get to them first. 

Chanyeol let a scream rip from his chest as his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, falling onto his back to look up at the blue sky. “Giving up is never the answer, so get up, Park Chanyeol.”

He re-opened his eyes to find Tao looming over his face, hands on his hips and a frown where his usual smile was. “I-I’m, older... Older than you...” Chanyeol huffed out, staggering back up onto his feet once more.

Earlier that morning, he was the first one to wake up to find everyone else still sound asleep, save Tao who was looking through his stuff with a childish grin plastered on his face. Making sure to not step on any limbs, he crept up on Tao and tapped his shoulder lightly, making the boy squeal and turn around frightened.

Using his palm to shush him, Chanyeol turned to look at the rest of the boys that were still sleeping to his great luck, making his way to look at Tao who held his treasure close to his chest. “I don’t want any of that, but I want you to do something for me...” He hissed, shoving Tao’s clothes and toys out from his hands. 

Grabbing the younger's wrist, he motioned for him to stand and grab his shoes, going through great efforts to keep quiet for the first time in his life. They both snuck out the door and wandered around the pathway for a while, staying within the boundaries of the fences until coming to a secluded area that was covered in shade by a big tree a few steps away. Letting out a sigh, Chanyeol smirked at Tao who just shrunk away from the boy’s crazy expression. “You, my friend, are going to teach me how to get your superpower.” 

Tao blinked once, then twice, astonished at the words that came out from Chanyeol’s mouth. He understood what he said and comprehended it alright, but the way Chanyeol said it felt as though he actually _meant_ it. 

“Y-You want to learn how to have my power?” He stuttered out, watching as Chanyeol nodded vigorously in response.

“Well, it doesn’t have to be yours, but I want to do something cool like that, like, uhm… Oh! What about shooting lasers from my eyes, that’s cool, yeah? Or, if I can turn my hand into a gun and shoot licorice sticks at people!” Chanyeol babbled out as he made toy guns out of his hands, his bizarre ideas interesting, but still reflecting the mind of a child.

Tao had never seen this side of the boy. It was a big shock to him because Chanyeol, whose usual routine was to make trouble until he got _in_ trouble, was taking something seriously despite his super short lack of attention. “Well, what do you want to know?” 

“Anything, really! How it works, how you do it and whatever.” Chanyeol waved his hand around and began to ramble on about “how cool it would be to shoot string cheese from his fingertips”, making Tao think back at all of those times that he’s had to use his power. 

He usually never used it unless he really needed to, which was technically only twice, relying on how it kind of just happened whenever it wanted without his control. His power had never come out at his will, creating a block for his explanation.

“Well… I never really control it, because it just kind of happens.” He admitted, making Chanyeol whine and stomp his feet in the grass below. The fallen leaves crinkled loudly under his feet.

“There has to be a way, though! It’s not fair that you get a superpower and I don’t!” 

Tao sighed at his immaturity and opened his mouth to talk again, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice. “Well, it’s not fair that you dragged Tao out here to learn without even telling us!” 

Chanyeol looked at Tao confusedly until spotting the source of the voice a couple feet behind him. There stood Chen and Baekhyun, who didn’t look all that pleased to see his little one on one lesson. “You could have at least woke us up.” Baekhyun grumbled, releasing a yawn before stretching his arms up into the air.

Chen nodded his head and the two of them shuffled to Chanyeol’s side, sitting down in front of Tao and preparing themselves for an attentive day of learning from the “one day only” teacher. 

“Well? Are you going to join us?” Chen asked impatiently.

Tao didn’t understand what he was trying to get at and just stared at him weirdly until another two boys joined in, taking their places next to Baekhyun while rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

“Sehun and Kai? You guys, too?” Tao sighed as the two sleepily bobbed their heads. “Well, as I was saying earlier, I don’t know how to use my power… It just happens.” 

“So you’re saying that all of that just completely happened on a whim and you didn’t even know you had the power in the first place?” Chen clarified, making Tao nod his head sheepishly. “Well then, how are we supposed to get cool powers?” He whined in disappointment.

“Maybe if you guys cry, it’ll work… That’s what Tao usually does to activate his power.” Sehun drawled out, curling up into a ball as Chanyeol began with a new bit of insight.

Tao looks at Sehun with a glare, while the latter just shrugged. 

“I mean, I’m not wrong.”

Chanyeol stood up and took in a deep breath as he stepped a few feet further into the trees, focusing as hard as his childish brain could. When he couldn’t hold it in any longer, he let out a loud screech, hunching forward to amplify whatever he had left in his lungs. Like that, he fell onto his back with staggering breaths.

Despite his sore throat and side pains, Chanyeol continued to get back up and practice until falling down for good, his body too drained of energy to continue his training. “I-I, don’t, I don’t think this is w-working.” He wheezed out, panting between each word.

“Hmm... Maybe Tao should show us an example?” Baekhyun chimed, he and Chen being the two that sang songs instead of mindlessly screaming like what Chanyeol had been doing.

Tao looked at the two from above Chanyeol and guessed that a little practice himself wouldn’t be that bad. It would be nice to understand how things work in times that they’re in a pinch.

Standing off to the side, he let his skin bask in the autumn sun and focused his thoughts. He didn’t really want to freeze everything like last time, still a bit sore from falling asleep on the ground. Taking the time to look around and find something that might spark his interest, he saw a bird chirping happily around its nest and tried to focus his power on that, feeling something pull in his stomach. The pull got stronger and he could feel the same rush of adrenaline as before, only to be stopped by a leaf tapping his temple and breaking his concentration. 

“Come on, Tao, hurry up!” Sehun called out boredly, making Tao’s eye twitch in irritation. It was relatively difficult, working his power on sudden impulse.

Gathering up his focus, he tried to slow the bird’s movement only to get poked in the eye by another leaf. The third time it happened, Tao couldn’t help but let his focal point shift to the onslaught of leaves floating down and ruining his peace.

He sighed angrily as he eyed his distractions, his state of annoyance fading when he noticed that the leaves no longer swayed against the wind to land in piles on the forest floor. Looking up, Chen makes an odd noise that emits from his throat and points up at the array of warm colors. “You did it!”

The entire scene is completely breathtaking, and it lasts long enough just for the other boys to experience it’s glory as they flood out of the house. Suho stops at the opening of the trees and gapes at the beams of light shining past the golden leaves, along with Kyungsoo and Lay before Tao waves his hand in the air and everything falls.

“Woah dude, your eyes are glowing like what they did at the store last night.” Sehun gasps.

Chanyeol praises Tao with a distorted voice, coughing and trying his best to speak clearly to no avail. All that comes out are harsh whispers, changing sharply in pitch from low to high. Face smeared with a pink blush, he covers his mouth with his hand and squints at Baekhyun and Chen who snicker behind their own.

“I-” he starts, only to have the two howl louder with laughter. He frowns, keeping his lips shut for the time being.

Kris, Luhan and Xiumin are next to pile out of the house with their messy hair and wrinkled sleepwear. Chen grins, looking to Tao again and shaking, “Do it again!”

Tao does just that, focusing on another bird in the tree as carefully as possible until it takes flight. His body jolts forward with a gasp, and like the leaves, the bird is suspended mid-flight in the air. Only now, when he tries to wave his hand, time doesn’t roll again.

“Uh…” Kai stares at Tao who was frantically waving his palm back and forth in the air in panic. He heaves when nothing happens, eyes watering at the sight.

“It’s not working!” He whimpers, still waving his hand. “It- It’s not working! What do I do?!”

Everyone else isn’t nearly as panicked as him, save Xiumin who runs up and studies the bird from below. “We should at least get it down…” He suggests, looking at the others for any volunteers. He makes a face and puts both hands on his chest. “What? _I’m_ not doing it!” Xiumin motions towards his still injured shoulder.

Everybody stood still, some pitying the poor animal while others nudged one another to step up, nobody really taking the lead until Tao stepped forward bravely.

“I’ll go,” He starts off, kicking the dirt with his shoe. “It’s going to be really dangerous, and if anything happens, I just wanted to say that I love you guys.” He pauses, taking another not so sneaky glance at the boys with small droplets of tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. “Hopefully I don’t get hurt, even though I probably will.” Another glance upwards, “If only someone could help me so that I don’t break my head and die.” He sighed, rubbing at his eyes with a small whimper.

Kris groans as Tao continues to brood and delay getting the bird down. Bringing an arm out, he pushes Tao aside and begins to scale the tree, back facing towards Tao who was trying desperately to hold back his snickers at Kris’s soft heart. The higher Kris went, the less he could hear the chants of the beagle line, minus Chanyeol who sounded like a deflating pidgeon every time he tried to speak. The bird was in range now, and the tree was beginning to shrink thinner and thinner as he moved up, the entire stalk swaying from his weight. 

Wrapping his legs around the base, he reached out for the small animal and managed to touch its wings with the tips of his fingers, almost there, but just barely out of reach. He shifted his body around so that he could hang by his legs, using his stomach to slowly lower himself down until he could grab the bird from over his shoulder. It felt almost unnatural in his palms, the entire thing as light as a feather yet with a structure of an actual animal. Kris began his descent down and shivered from the wind blowing past his neck, causing him to hug the tree reflexively and try to slide his way down. Bad move on his part, though. The cuff of his shirt got caught on one of the smaller branches, causing him to yank a bit _too_ hard and having him plunge headfirst towards the ground below.

Tao gaped at how stupid Kris was after going through the trouble of trying to help him, waving his arms around like a madman in hopes that he could possibly freeze him before he landed splat against the ground. 

Although Tao managed to use his power successfully, he was focused on the wrong object and set the bird free from his frozen state, allowing it to fly out from Kris’ hands into the air. Kris watched everything right before his eyes as the bird stretched its wings above him, the shadow of the animal blocking his view of the sun so that all he saw was a magnificent silhouette. 

“Kris!” Tao cried, the desperation in his voice so strong that Kris could feel something jerk in his chest. It was small at first, only tickling his abdomen, but gradually intensified to having his stomach clench from an unknown force.

Nobody could look away, and all eyes watched the scene fearfully. It was like everything was moving at a snail’s pace as they watched Kris’ body drop sluggishly until his back lightly tapped the ground.

Kai shook Tao’s body to help him regain consciousness and when Tao snapped out of his daze, Kris was already trying to push himself up onto his feet. 

Suho moved first, running towards Kris before checking him for any wounds or injuries, “Kris are you okay? Tell me what day it is today?” He rapidly spat out, making Kris shove him away with little force.

“I’m fine, and I don’t pay attention to dates so I wouldn’t know. What the hell happened just now?” 

Nobody knew how to explain the phenomenon that had just taken place and instead looked at Tao who shook his head furiously. 

Chen stepped in first and looked at Tao, “Maybe Tao slowed down time so that Kris wouldn’t fall?” He suggested, trying to find a plausible explanation for why Kris didn’t have any broken bones.

“B-But, I... Am I even able to do that?” Tao mumbled, thoughts jumbling up in his head as Kris stretched his muscles nonchalantly on the side.

“If it wasn’t Tao, then…” Baekhyun turned to look at Kris who was completely unharmed from falling at least twenty feet. “Kris! Your eyes!” 

Kris raised an eyebrow, unaware of the silver lining around his irises, and looked down at his hands, not noticing anything out of the ordinary with his own body. “So, I’m like Tao?”

Eyes all looked at one another for an answer, to which nobody could provide for until Lay raised his hand, earning a bunch of weird looks when he could have just said it aloud. “Maybe he should try testing it and see.”

 _“Testing it, huh…”_

He placed his hands out in front of him and waved them experimentally back and forth, just as Tao did earlier to no avail. Nothing was frozen, and everything seemed to be exactly the same as it was before. Kris clenched his fists and punched it up to the sky in hopes of sparking a reaction, but of course, still nothing happened. “Damn it, what the hell.” He snarled, frustration building up, despite only trying for a few seconds.

Kris wasn’t the most patient guy in the world. Especially right now, secretly excited about receiving some sort of mutant power only to be deceived by the lack of a supernatural occurrence. When he kicks the ground with a pout, he leans back angrily to fall onto the floor with his irritation clouding his mind. Instead, when he stumbles back and trips over his own foot, his body wobbles with a quick feeling of horror painting his face. To his amazement, he doesn’t feel the impact of the ground.

In quite the position, Kris is rocking back and forth in the air without the support of the earth under him. Gaining the right amount of balance, he hesitantly wills himself upward with the stretch of his arms and legs, the sudden boost sending him even higher above the ground.

“HOLY FUCK!”

Suho is too dumbfounded to criticize the boy in the sky, who’s turning and flipping, filling the air with laughter and shouts, very unlike his usual behavior. All the others are equally as bewildered, both Chen and Chanyeol’s eyes glistening in awe just before they cheer in harmony. Kris floats down to them with a big smile, and like Tao, his eyes shine, only this time with a hint of silver instead of gold. 

Sehun points up to the older boy. “It _is_ his power!” He gasps, watching as Kris flew in circles and practically soared in the sky high above.

Another twenty minutes went by like that, but eventually Kris had to come down. He landed perfectly on his feet this time, a smug smile perched on his face as they all idolized him on their way back to the cottage. Even Chanyeol was trying his best to squeal along with the others, wheezing and going out with a small whine every time his voice got too loud. 

Kai raised an eyebrow and watched as Chanyeol held his throat with tears building in his eyes, “Is he going to be like that for the entire day?” He wondered aloud, making the others watch Chanyeol try to speak.

“Maybe the entire week, if we’re lucky.” Kyungsoo grumbled as he went back indoors to finish making breakfast. 

All Chanyeol could do was stomp his feet and his face morphed into something ugly that would rather not be described, as the rest of the boys all enjoyed their day of peace and quiet. 


	4. Winter

“Both Tao and Kris have powers. Does that mean we will have powers, too?”

Everyone gathers around in a circle in the middle of the living room, Kris cruising around as he glides above people’s heads without a care in the world. A few members eye him enviously at how happy he looked, his normal grumpy expression replaced with a goofy grin with every loop he made. 

Chanyeol stood up from his seat and cleared his throat, the uncomfortable itch still there after his mishap a few days prior. “So, how are we supposed to get powers like that then?” His voice barely wheezed out, still tense and hoarse. He was especially jealous about how the two boys had powers and he didn’t. “It’s not fair.” 

“Why don’t we just solve this without straining ourselves. Chanyeol, please sit down.” Suho ordered calmly, seeing how red Chanyeol’s face was turning. “Let’s look at all of the clues we have first to come up with an explanation.”

Baekhyun sighed and kicked his feet out frustratedly, “So you’re saying that we have to look at clues? What clues? All we know is that bad sh- stuff happens to them before they get their powers.” 

Suho’s eyes squinted as Baekhyun quickly corrected himself, wandering over to hide behind Chanyeol who was biting his lip impatiently. “So the idea is that something needs to trigger the power, huh. Hey Kris, what did it feel like when you- Kris!” 

Kris was too busy practicing his back flips to notice Suho’s persistent squawking, creating a moment where everyone just watched at how disregarded Suho can be, but he wasn’t the only one that was being ignored. Tao sulked on the side of the room at how much attention Kris was getting, watching with disdain as Chanyeol tried his best not to take a peek at what he was doing every two seconds. He had gotten his power before Kris  _ and  _ helped him get his power, so why weren’t they asking him?! It made him even more upset that Kris did not pay attention to anyone after discovering his newfound skill. 

Glancing up to see Kris trying to do a  _ very _ failed attempt of moonwalking on the ceiling, he waved his hand over him in hopes that he would stop messing around to listen to Suho for once. Kris continued tripping over his feet until his movements came to a halt, suspending him in the air.

Suho kept jabbering at Kris, until realizing that one, he wasn’t listening and two, that Tao had frozen him in the process, feeling a bit relieved that he wasn’t totally being ignored on purpose. “Thanks, Tao, but you can let him down now.” 

“I would if I could, but he would make a really nice ceiling ornament right about now, so whoops.” Tao sighed blandly, shuffling through his back for nothing in particular. 

“Please, Tao, unfreeze him.” Suho repeated himself, seeing that the younger was nowhere near freeing Kris from his state.

While Suho was occupied by a stubborn Tao, Chanyeol managed to stand on a chair and pull Kris lower to the ground, his frozen body drifting with the slightest pull. Once he touched the ground, everyone gathered around to see that Kris really was stuck in time, his expression and movements still.

Not thinking about the consequences, Chen rummaged through his own backpack and pulled out a black marker, doodling over Kris’ face so that he’d grow a unibrow and some whiskers by the edges of his mouth. The kids all giggled at how “beautiful” he looked and gave their own input as to what to add, Baekhyun adding in a ring around his eye while Sehun drew a long strand of snot coming out from his nose.

Managing to coax Tao into making Kris go back to normal, the two went back to the group to see Luhan taking a picture with his disposable camera, sniggering at how dolled up Kris looked. His lips were now stained a bright purple and they even added false eyelashes with the help of their ultra fine pen. Suho just watched in awe as Lay even joined in, sketching a small triangle smack dab in the middle of his forehead. 

“Guys, you can’t just do that to people that are frozen,” Already going to the kitchen to grab a wet rag. Suho wandered back into the main room to try and wipe off the marker, only having a streak of the ink smudge upwards to his temple. He panicked and quickly set the rag down, looking at Xiumin who just laughed under his breath at how something can go so wrong so fast.

“O-Kay! Everyone move away before it gets too obvious.” Tao called out, moving back to his place before waving his hand up in the air. As if like magic, Kris began to move, dancing in place with a face full of colored markers and blobs.

“So uh, Kris. Tell me how you felt when you, erm, got your powers?” Suho managed to get out, not taking his eyes off the long strand of mucus drawn down Kris’ chin.

“It’s easy. You know you get it if you feel this pull in your stomach and then boom, you have a power.” 

Kris gave the shortest explanation in mankind as Chen and the others that were there to witness it blessed Tao for at least  _ trying _ when he was teaching them. They couldn’t stay mad for long though, holding back their fits of laughter as Kris moved in rhythm to his own beat. 

Breakfast went about in a normal fashion, everyone fighting over the steaming hot croissants as they came out from the oven. Nobody could resist the way that the flaky crust melted in their mouths, especially with a lukewarm cup of hot chocolate to wash the bread down.

Breakfast passes by quickly since everyone is stuffing their faces at the speed of light, not caring much about how many times they’ve chewed or how messy their faces looked. Even then, they’re too much in a rush to get out of the house to care about cleaning up. Some even run after the others with food still in their mouths, wiping the buttery crumbs on the sleeves of their winter coats and struggling to put on their new warm shoes.

Xiumin was first to bolt out the doors, his mouth latched onto two croissants at once as he tread through the light layer of snow on the ground. His arm still hurt from being shot, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t go out and have fun either. The others left with less gusto, but still happy that they wouldn’t have to be holed up in the house the entire time. Kyungsoo stayed back, letting the dirty pans and plates soak in the sink. Once he finally dried his hands and wandered out back into the main room, he saw someone buried under mounds of blankets, staring out the window with his breath fogging up the frosty panel.

“Dumbyeol, why are you still here?” He asked with an eyebrow raised, already beginning to force his feet into his shoes. “Where’s Baekhyun?” 

Chanyeol seemed to slump lower in his seat once Kyungsoo spoke, releasing an airlike whine. “He left me to go play outside because I didn’t want to go.” 

Kyungsoo hummed and began to leave himself, sparing one last glance at Chanyeol. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears and his lower lip jutted out like a child’s, making him feel so guilty without even doing anything. Releasing a small huff, he kicked off his shoes and plopped down next to Chanyeol, whose crestfallen moping turned to surprise to see him still here.

“Kyungsoo hyung, are you coming? Everyone is waiting for you!” Kai ran in through the door to see the two on the couch, giving a puzzled look as to why both of them didn’t even have their shoes on. “What happened to Chanyeol?”

Kyungsoo sighed and smacked Chanyeol in the face, making him bury his face into his blanket to hide his now falling tears. “He didn’t want to go outside and I felt bad for leaving him here by himself. You can go on without me, Kai.” 

Kai’s happy grin disappeared once Kyungsoo delivered the news, so shocked that he unconsciously began to untie his shoelaces and tug off his boots. “I’ll stay with you then.” 

“Don’t mind me and go out and play with the rest of the boys. Someone needs to make sure this guy doesn’t get into any trouble, so go figure.” Kyungsoo shrugged, looking at Chanyeol who was trying to sniff as his nose stung from being hit.

Kai nodded wordlessly and began to sulk on the way back to the lake, shoulders hunched as he kicked anything within range of his snow boots. After dragging himself for about five minutes, he manages to see the rest of the boys in the clearing, all playing around by the frigid water all while letting out shouts and squeals.

Baekhyun was screaming the most, his voice traveling throughout the air as he ran around like a mad man. “Quit it Chen, you’re getting my shoes wet!” His shrill voice echoed. 

Chen just grinned and began to continue picking up rocks and throwing them into the water near Baekhyun, letting out amused laughs as the ice cold water splashed onto his legs. “It’s your fault for staying so close to the water!” 

Lay was on the side with Luhan, the two of them huddling together and just chatting quietly on a nearby log. Suho was busy collecting thin ice shards that were floating on top of the lake while Xiumin used them to create a small structure of ice pieces, completely immersed in aligning the glass like fragments. Kai let his eyes wander to Sehun who was just standing with his feet in the gravel, just beyond the water’s reach. His eyes were in a trance at something in the sky, not noticing Kai until he tapped him on the shoulder. Sehun gave him a brief greeting before staring once again at the sky, making Kai mimic his motion to see something interesting.

Kris was soaring through the sky with his usual exhilarated grin plastered on his face, white specks trailing after him as he circled around. He wasn’t doing his usual tricks and such, but instead, had Tao perched on his back, waving his arms around wildly as Kris firmly held onto his legs. Tao was the one holding loose bits of snow in his hands, releasing it slowly to make Kris look like a giant tinkerbell as he jet over the lake. Occasionally, Kris would descend back to the ground to allow Tao to pick up more snow, taking him back to the sky to let him enjoy his joy ride. 

Sehun wouldn’t take his eyes off the two, but still managed to strike up a conversation with the brooding Kai. “Why the long face?” 

Kai kept his eyes locked on the flying duo and just sighed, breath releasing a puff of hot air. “Kyungsoo hyung stayed back with Chanyeol at the house because Chanyeol didn’t want to go outside.” 

“That’s okay,” Sehun smiled, more unattractive than meaningful. “You have me.”

His words make Kai stare back, his lips spreading in disgust, but the younger only laughs and pats his shoulder roughly.

“I was joking. You can hang out with hyung when we get back, so don’t worry too much.”

The two look back up to find Kris and Tao easing back down to the surface. Tao pants, hot breath puffing small clouds of hair before him along with Kris who wipes the cold sweat off his forehead. Tao happily looks back to Kris, about to praise him for how much fun he had when he realises that Kris is no longer smiling. Rather, he’s more focused on the blob of dark purple ink smudged on the back of his hands and fingertips. He jumps up onto his feet, quickly making his way through the snow and towards the lake where he leans over to see his reflection.

His sudden burst of anger alerts the rest of the members, and despite it being so scary, Chen is still laughing. He topples over in the snow, pointing at the defaced leader, and Baekhyun has to kick him lightly in the side to get him to stop laughing so hard. Even so, Chen is obviously unafraid of whatever harm would come to him.

His doom is easily avoided, however, when Kris stomps up to the nearest person to him, that person being Luhan who sits next to a dazed Lay. Luhan leans back when Kris gets too close, but even though he’s enraged and somewhat threatening, Luhan still snickers from the way the ink starts to drip down his face.

Wrong move for him, though, because before he knows it, he’s ten feet off the ground hanging from his arms. The fear numbs his legs, his heart pounding and face sweating from the anxiety that takes over his brain, and he starts whimpering, unable to make out a single word in such a frightening situation. As Kris starts to lift him up higher, he yelps, begging him to let him down because Kris  _ knows _ he’s deathly afraid of heights.

Suho gasps at the struggling Luhan in the air who looks just about ready to faint. He cups his mouth with his hands and says with a shout, “WU YIFAN, GET HIM DOWN RIGHT NOW!!!”

Kris cursed under his breath and was immediately glad Suho was too far away to hear him, looking down at the frantic Luhan with a devilish smirk. “Tell me the names of everyone that did this to me and I’ll let you go.”

Luhan sputtered like a fish before clinging to Kris’ arms, not daring to look down at how far his body was from the earth. “Ch…” 

Releasing one hand from Luhan, he let the poor boy dangle from his right hand, unable to even speak how his lifeline felt threatened by Kris’ reckless move.

“CHEN! Chen, Baekhyun, Sehun and Lay.” He cried out, tears already starting to gush from his eyes as Kris just hums in response.

“Didn’t see Lay doing that and I kind of expected Chanyeol to be in on it.” He admitted, pulling Luhan right side up and slowly descending back down. “But, since you didn’t do anything to stop them, I’m going to let you take some of the punishment, too.” 

A small yelp emerged from Luhan’s mouth once Kris let go, his tiny squeaks growing louder and more alarmed as he picked up speed.

“KRIS!” Tao cried, unable to stop Luhan and feeling the terror crawl through his stomach and up to his throat as he watched his hyung freefall.

Kris waited a few seconds before realizing that enough was enough and he shot down to grab Luhan before he had gotten his pretty little head drenched. He had gotten within range when he saw something ignite in Luhan’s eyes, a violet flash of light appearing before he felt something hit him in the chest. Kris’ body flew up and he felt the wind being knocked out of him as Luhan’s body continued to plummet towards the lake below. 

Luhan didn’t know what to say and his mouth was frozen open as no screams came out. He felt a twinge of relief when he saw Kris fly down to grab him, but it was  _ his _ fault that this was all happening. Kris knew that he detested heights and yet, had chosen him for his blackmail. The very thought of Kris using him made Luhan’s blood boil and he just wanted to push the boy away, preventing him from getting closer.

His heart dropped down to the bottom of the earth’s core as Kris indeed was flung upwards and away from his own falling body. The look in Kris’ eye resembled something of regret and anguish once he had missed his mark and Luhan swore he saw a flash of white before his voice returned, allowing him to release a loud wail as he plunged deeper and deeper towards the frigid water below.

The time where his skin and blood froze over never came though, and he only watched as the sky moved by slowly, clouds taking their sweet time to stroll by as he almost fell to his doom. His view was blocked by another figure though and he felt himself being hauled up, turning his head weakly to see Kris holding him in his arms. 

Luhan’s entire body was on fire despite the sub zero winds blowing through his thin outerwear, making his body shake even as his feet touched the ground again after what seemed like a millenium.

Lay rushed up to meet them first, his pants managing to get wet as he mindlessly walked towards the two. His entire being screamed distress by the way that he held his arms out towards Luhan, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to Suho who was trying to pull him out of the icy water below. “Luhan, are you okay?!” 

The said boy managed to give a feeble nod in return, almost collapsing into Lay once his jelly legs were planted onto the floor.

“Kris, what the hell were you thinking?” Sehun growled, looking up at the older who didn’t even know what to say. He glances at Luhan before stubbornly looking down at his feet.

Suho stepped between the two and shook his head. “Let’s go back to the cabin first before we talk.” 

They all made it back to the cabin to find Chanyeol and Kyungsoo under the blanket together, their sleeping faces almost angelic despite their usual expressions. Kai wandered over to them first, awkwardly standing around before looking back at Luhan who hobbled in with the help of Xiumin. Seeing that this was  _ technically  _ an emergency, he made up his mind and took a step back, “CHANYEOL! KYUNGSOO! LUHAN GOT HURT!”

Kai’s deafening scream made the two jump out from the covers, Kyungsoo’s head colliding with Chanyeol’s jaw as they both scrambled to check if Luhan was okay.

Luhan exhaled a shaky breath before settling himself down on the couch next to Kyungsoo, who was trying to rub the sleep out from his eyes and check to see if Luhan was okay. “I’m okay, guys, Kai just overreacted.” 

Kyungsoo sighed and looked him over just to be sure, not really seeing any visible marks or cuts. He leaned back and took the blanket from Chanyeol who shivered from the loss of heat, placing the blanket over Luhan who took it gratefully. 

“So wait, what happened?” Chanyeol asked again, not understanding why everyone was back so soon. Kyungsoo ended up falling asleep as they were talking and he put the job in his own hands to make sure he was sleeping okay, propping up Kyungsoo’s head with his own shoulder and providing the blanket for the two of them. 

Suho explained first. “We were all at the lake, and-”

“And Kris decided to go crazy on us because he saw the drawings on his face.” Baekhyun summed up, still upset that Luhan had ratted him out despite the situation.

Kris rolled his eyes and this, not being taken lightly by Suho, made him upset. “Well, Mr. ‘I can fly and use my powers so amazingly’, why don’t you tell us what happened up there?”

Feeling the tension build in the room, Kris sat down first and took a deep breath. “Well, I found out that you guys drew on my face, so of course I was upset. I decided to get the answer out of someone and just picked up Luhan on the way-”

“Just picked him up? You flew him up like a hundred feet into the sky and held him by one leg!” 

Kris glared at Baekhyun who angrily took a step closer to him, stopping when Suho held out his arm. “As I was saying… I carried him up and tried to get the answer out of him. He told me, and I thought it wasn’t enough since he still let you all color my face so I dropped… him... “ He trailed off, not daring to look at Luhan who had his face buried in the warm blankets.

“B-But it was on purpose! I mean, not on purpose like that, but I meant to catch him.” Kris started again. 

“But you didn’t.” Baekhyun retorted, not giving Kris any slack for his actions.

“Well, if you let me finish my damn sentences, then I would be able to explain everything!” Kris roared, almost rushing straight at Baekhyun if it wasn’t for the judging eyes that continued to jab at him. “I meant to go and grab him after letting him fall for a bit, but then something pushed me back, and I couldn’t grab him in time.” 

Kyungsoo sat up a bit in his seat and looked at Kris curiously, unable to fall back asleep from the constant bickering. “So, if you didn’t catch him, then why isn’t he soaked from the lake?” 

“I was getting to that,” Kris glanced over to Kyungsoo. “To tell you the truth, I really don’t know. I thought I saw something flash in his eyes, and then, I got pushed back. By the time I went down to get him, he was already frozen in mid air.”

“Does that mean that Tao was the one that froze him?” Chanyeol whispered, keeping his voice at a soft hush to prevent him from hurting himself.

Sehun shook his head and just kept his head down in thought. “It couldn’t have been Tao because he was next to me panicking about how his powers weren’t working again.”

“You don’t think…” Kai began, looking up at Luhan who was already beginning to drift off to dreamland. “Luhan got his power?” 

Eyes all turned to look at the drowsy deer who could barely keep himself awake as questions remained unanswered. 

“That would explain how he stopped falling, but I’m not sure...” Xiumin hummed in thought. “I don’t think he would have Tao’s power...”

Baekhyun let the entire scene replay in his head and snapped his fingers when thinking it over. “I know! Maybe he has the power to fly like Kris! That’s why he didn’t fall into the lake when he was dropped!”

Everyone chatted with the possibilities, and Lay sauntered over to Luhan, nudging him lightly in the shoulder. “Try testing it out.”

Luhan, who could barely keep himself awake, nodded tiredly, yanking the blanket away from Chanyeol and Kyungsoo so that he could stand up with the warmth that wrapped around him. He hunched his back and stretched his legs to try and shake off the feeling of sleepiness, leaving his eyes closed as he tried to concentrate. He squeezed his eyes together tightly in hopes that doing so would awaken his power, only to open them when no one said a word. His feet were still planted on the floor and everyone was still watching anxiously to see the change. Luhan tried hopping in his place, letting his feet jump off the ground before having gravity pull him back down onto his toes again.

Kris watched just as intently as Luhan failed to stay off the ground for even a second, making his patience lessen until Luhan looked like he wasn’t even trying. “Luhan, you need to at least  _ try _ if you want to get something.” 

Luhan’s head snapped up at Kris’ voice and he just gave him a dirty look, still unforgiving for his actions. Luhan lifted both arms up into the air and even let out brief yells to help him, still trying to no avail. 

“What the hell are you even trying to do? You’re just yelling now! You’re not even jumping!” Kris growled, unhappy with Luhan’s poor improvement. “How the hell did you not fall into the lake?” 

“Well maybe if you didn’t drop me, none of this would have happened!” Luhan shot back, his eyes turning into an incandescent purple before Kris let out a strangled gargle.

Kris’ body was thrown back after Luhan’s outburst, making him soar backwards into the nearest wall, his back and the wall meeting with an agonizing “crack”. Luckily, he didn’t seem to be actually injured, but the face he was making said something different.

“O-Okay, I- I’m sorry Luhan! Let, let me go!” He managed to choke out, his legs kicking around wildly as a force held him away from the ground. Not only Kris was suspended in a semi frozen state, but miscellaneous objects around the house began to wobble and shake until they were buoyant in the air. 

Luhan’s eyes went from a lucid purple to a warm brown in seconds, making Kris slump to the ground while trying to regain his breath. All of the floating cups and snacks dropped to the ground as Luhan dropped to his knees, ragged breaths leaving his chapped lips. 

The room was in awe from what happened, mouths hung ajar as the wind blew through the small cracks under their cottage. “What was that?” Chen gasped, eyes going back and forth between Luhan and Kris.

“Luhan  _ does _ have his power.” Sehun whispered amazedly, his voice soft as if he didn’t even believe his own words. 

“But what did he do? How did he do it?” Lay said in a daze, his brain not able to comprehend everything that was happening at once.

“Isn’t that tele… Tele… Tele… Telemitosis?” Chanyeol stuttered out, his tongue managing to trip up due to his limited vocabulary.

“Mitosis is the dividing of cells, and I don’t even think that’s a word.” Lay states calmly, shooting Chanyeol down in an instant.

“I think what Chanyeol was trying to say was telekinesis, right, Chanyeol?” Suho suggested. Chanyeol sheepishly bobbed his head.

Kris managed to stand himself up before collapsing on the couch, almost sitting on Kyungsoo to his chagrin before sighing, “Well, that solves the mystery of why his eyes turn purple.” 

Kai managed to sit down and squeeze between Kyungsoo and Kris’ legs while everyone was deep in discussion. “So now we have three people with powers then.” 

Luhan looked up at Tao and Kris who just gave smug smiles, his grave expression lightening up in realization that he wasn’t alone despite the anger that filled their bodies moments ago. Some others, though, we’re less than pleased.

Sehun watched the three converse happily, almost envious enough to throw a fit if it weren’t for the others making such a scene. Chanyeol was on his knees and crying to Kyungsoo again, who was pushing him away as Kai took the chance to take Kris’ spot, the giant being halfway across the room to go and mingle with the power wielding kids. 

Chen stood up and clapped his hands, bringing the focus of the room towards him before he spoke, “We should have a bet.” 

Nobody understood what he was talking about and he groaned seeing their looks of confusion. “You know, like, to see who gets their powers first.”

“It’ll be me!” Chanyeol bellowed, his voice screeching in the process but still managing to deliver his message.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and looked at each boy before pointing at Kai, “It’s probably him since we have two of the older members and only one of the younger ones.” 

“What about me then?” Sehun grumbled, almost letting his voice crack under pressure.

“You won’t have it since Xiumin hyung doesn’t have his and he’s the oldest. Taking out the oldest and the youngest is the smartest move.” 

Many mouths “oohed” at how well thought out Baekhyun’s reasoning was, making him hold his nose high in the air as he basked in the glory of being smart.

“What?” Kyungsoo grimaces. “That doesn’t make any sense. You  _ know _ that makes no sense.”

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo with a scowl, threatening him with a fist before settling down bitterly.

Lay shook his head and let his eyes wander over to another, “It’s Suho.” 

“Well?” Chen continued on after Lay didn’t finish his explanation on why.

“Well, what?” 

Chen slapped his forehead and began to talk with a huff, “Well how do you know it’s Suho that’s going to get his power first?” 

Lay shrugged and hit his stomach twice with his own fist, “Just a hunch. I thought it would be Xiumin, but he doesn’t seem that enthusiastic to gain his power, so Suho was my next pick.” He lets his eyes wander over to Xiumin who was staring out the window with a hand pressed against the cold glass, as he drew little snowflakes in the frost.

“Maybe both,” Lay brought up again, leaning back into the mass of pillows occupying one of the walls.

“I think Lay is pushing his luck, but we’ll see.” Kai said with a devious grin, happy that someone thinks he would obtain his power next. Just thinking of having some kind of supernatural ability made his entire being shake at the possibilities. 

Suho, on the other hand, wasn’t sure whether to feel excited or doomed about gaining his powers. He knew he would get them soon enough, proof being that three members had gotten theirs within three months, but the whole idea still baffled him.

“Don’t you guys think this is a bit weird?” he asks nervously. Everyone stares at him with innocent eyes, except Xiumin who finishes drawing and leans his head back.

“It is,” he sighs. "But it's something that's may happen either way so you might as well go with it instead of fighting it.”

Suho nodded his head and let his shoulders droop, watching the others go on and on about what they would do with their own powers. Powers were extremely cool, but everything good comes with a price. If Luhan, one of the more calm and collected of the group, couldn't control his own power at first, then what will happen with the others?


	5. Winter pt. 2

It was nearing the end of the year, and the cold finally began to take effect on the small town the twelve boys resided in. They even experienced the trouble of shoveling snow off the wooden porch stairs, and even then, the snow climbed up halfway past their shins, some up to their knees. That didn’t stop them, however, from making plans nearly every day to venture outside and enjoy the snow while it lasted.

The sun begins to set, and this time, everyone slows down snacking on leftover oven baked cookies that were popped in the microwave for extra warmth, their cups of instant hot chocolate filling up their insides with satisfaction and joy. From one of the storage rooms, Kyungsoo and Suho pull out a huge green container, releasing it in the middle of the room with a huff. Everyone automatically drops their snacks and runs over to inspect the big box- everyone except Kai, Tao and Sehun.

“What’s that?” Tao asks curiously, chewing on another chocolate chip cookie and grabbing another one as he stands up from his seat. He peers over some of their heads to the best of his extent, and Chen whips around with his hands full of festive ornaments and decorations.

“We get to decorate now!” He says excitedly, stepping to the side to reveal the box stuffed with joyous decorations. Everyone picks up as many as they can handle before scattering around the house and sticking them just about anywhere.

Sehun and Kai finally jump up from their chairs to join in the fun, sticking stockings above the fireplace and small knick-knacks on the window sills and kitchen table.

“Woah,” Sehun gasps, eyeing all the shiny items that adorned the candle-lit room. It’s certainly random, but it at least looks like they have _some_ holiday spirit. “You guys do this every year?”

“Yeah, you should have been here when we tried stealing a tree…” Luhan sighs. “We ended up ditching it in the middle of the street.”

Suho laughs, putting finishing touches on the fireplace. “We decorate the tree in the opening, instead.” He admits, already taking out a line of lights and rolling it around his hand and elbow. “It’s a lot more convenient.”

Kris takes hold of another box of decorations, along with a few others who hold lights and personal ornaments before everyone heads outside, bracing for the cold air that flows into the house when the door opens. They trudge through the snow with their boots, Kai and Luhan in the front clearing some of the path while Lay carries the extension cord connected to the lodge. When they reach the tree, they all look up at it before helping each other wrap the lights.

Kris and Luhan are in charge for the majority of the decorating, Kris floating upwards higher and higher as he wraps the tree in the cords. Luhan isn’t having as much ease with the task, his powers slightly shaky and energy-draining as he continues on, but he eventually gets his part done. A lot of the ornaments are bundled near the bottom of the tree, but when the final piece is needed, Tao stops Kris from flying back up and looks down at his feet shyly.

“I-I want to put the star on…” He mumbles, kicking some snow with his feet. Kris eyes him at first, then the others, and Suho comes trotting over with a big yellow star in his hands.

“Wait, why does he get to put the star on?” Sehun grumbles, staring enviously at the way the star shimmered in the sunlight.

“Just let him do it man.” Kai nudges the latter’s shoulder.

“This is exciting! I’ve never celebrated Christmas before!” Tao laughs with glee, causing some of the others’ eyes to widen in surprise.

“Me neither, but I mean I think I’m doing this right.” Sehun lifts his arms up, getting himself more and more tangled into the tinsel. 

“You get used to it after a while.” Baekhyun shrugs.

“Here,” Suho reaches the star out in front of him to Tao, to which the younger accepts gladly. Kris doesn’t say anything more than needed, floating onto his stomach to let the other hop on with a happy cat-like smile.

When they reach the top, Tao leans towards the highest point of the tree and bunches it up with his hands to stick the star perfectly onto it. 

“There!” Tao chirped, crossing his arms and nodding his head proudly. He proceeds to plug the end of the lights into the socket behind the star, and giving the boys below a thumbs up, the tree brightens up with vibrant colors as the sky gets darker and darker.

There, in the middle of a quiet, dark forest now lies a bright tree, illuminating the usual bleak plant life with a bit of Christmas magic.

* * *

The next morning, everyone peels themselves off their mattress’, excited for the new day that awaited them; everyone except Park Chanyeol.

After the last person jumps out of the shower, Baekhyun comes crashing onto Chanyeol’s half-asleep body fully dressed in winter clothes. His puffy jacket cushions his fall, but it's no less painful for Chanyeol as the small weight presses against his back with a grunt.

“Dumbyeol!” Baekhyun shouts, propping his head up with his hands as his elbows wobble against the taller’s shoulder blades. “Are you coming outside today?”

Chanyeol groans at the bony elbows that stab his back, his strength failing him and forcing his head onto the blanket underneath him. He sighs at his question, closing his eyes in hopes of getting a little more rest. “I don’t want to,” he complains. “I don’t like the cold.”

“Boo,” Baekhyun teases childishly. “You have to come outside! The lake's all frozen, so we can go ice skating!” The small boy sits up on his back, patting and chopping it with the sides of his hands.

It actually feels good, and Chanyeol has to refrain himself from falling asleep in the middle of the massage, but the longer he didn’t reply, the harder Baekhyun hit. “Ow!” he yelps as Baekhyun starts to punch his back instead. “Baek- Ow!”

“You’re falling asleep!” He whines, tugging lightly on his dark fluffy hair. “Hurry up, Chanyeol! Everyone left already, and I’m waiting for you!”

Peeking through one of his eyes, he scans the room to find nobody there. Everyone had already gone out to have fun without him, and it almost hurt being forgotten- except, he wasn’t. He smiles to himself, glad that Baekhyun stayed behind for him.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whines, rocking back and forth while he continues to tug at his hair. “I want to leave already…Get up…”

Chanyeol only groans one more time, turning his head to look up at his friend the best he could without straining his neck. “I can’t get up with you on top of me.” He finally says. Baekhyun happily jumps off, keeping an eye on him to be sure that he actually stands up.

When he’s fully up on his feet and begins to stretch, Baekhyun makes sure to snatch an extra coat for him because he knows Chanyeol gets cold easily, ushering him out the door with an excited grin on his face. 

Baekhyun wasn’t joking when he said that it would be fun, and Chanyeol was itching to run around with the rest of them. Xiumin was the only one properly skating while the rest of the boys were wobbling around like newborn fawns. Even Luhan was having trouble holding his legs up straight, despite having used his power to jet himself around instead of pumping his legs to do the work. Kris wasn’t skating properly either, using his own ability to do majestic spins and leaps through the air, putting on his own private show for the incapable ones down below. 

Making sure that Chanyeol was at least interested in the frozen paradise, he took a couple steps forward with their hands intertwined, giving Chanyeol silent but encouraging nods every once and a while to keep him from chickening out. The poor boy looked as though his soul had left him the second his shoe touched the icy floor below, instinctively clinging to Baekhyun and almost choking him around the neck. 

Baekhyun coughed as Chanyeol’s grip only got tighter, muttering a small, “loosen up, will you...” He mutters before dragging him over to Luhan.

“Luhan, you should use your power to help Chanyeol learn how to skate.” Baekhyun wanted Chanyeol to enjoy the ice, but he also wanted to enjoy it as well without having his airways cut off every three seconds. “You need to practice your, um... power, anyways.” 

Luhan rolled his eyes. “I would if I could get it under control myself, but since I can’t, this is the best I can do.” He thrusts his hands towards Baekhyun and Chanyeol, only to have his feet stay in the exact same position prior to his attempt in using his powers. His eyes still shone a fluorescent purple, and he could only gasp as Baekhyun flew into Chanyeol, the two flying back until Chanyeol tripped over a rock near the lake. They both land in a small pile of snow on the side.

Seeing that they weren’t harmed by the way that Baekhyun still had enough energy to beat Chanyeol with, Luhan nudged himself over to the two in hopes that they weren’t too upset.

Despite the situation being one that Baekhyun wouldn’t normally handle well, he stopped swinging once he settled into Chanyeol’s chest, the warmth being subtly enjoyable on his numb hands. 

“B-Baek, I’m cold.” Chanyeol complained, scrunching up his nose as Baekhyun struggled to stand back up. He kicks him lightly one more time before wandering off, Chanyeol scurrying after him.

Suho and Lay were busy talking about their plans later that night to really pay attention to the rest of the boys, not taking note of Chen and Kris as they terrorized the three youngest boys with bombs of snow. Kris would fly up with buckets of snow that Chen miraculously prepared, while Sehun, Kai and Tao frantically scampered around, trying their best to avoid the buckets of ice cold hell. 

Kai and Sehun were mildly good at dodging on their own, Kai being one to just throw his body out of the way just in time. Sehun would use his arms to force gravity to fling him around at the last second to barely have the snow knick his back or arms. Tao, on the other hand, had the power to freeze the ice, but he’d never have enough time to focus clearly on each attack as they plundered from above him, cursing at how useless his legs were on the slippery ground. 

Sehun spoke first, irritated by the fact that he was sweating despite the cold weather. “This isn’t fair!”

Letting out a small scoff, Kris practically did a backflip from how hard he threw his head back while laughing. “You think this isn’t fair? Me and Chen have a disadvantage because you guys have three people when we only have two.”

“But you have powers!” Kai cried out, the cold starting to seep through his thick jacket.

“Yeah, but you have Tao, and he can stop time!” Chen called out, not bothering to look their way as he made more snow bombs.

It somehow managed to slip their mind that Tao had powers, he being one that could barely use it properly when they needed it the most. They watched as Kris practically buried him under another heap of snow, rendering him useless as his legs kicked wildly up in the air.

Sehun huffed, mumbling under his breath, “It’s Chen and I, not me and Chen.” Before getting slapped in the face with a handful of snow, courtesy of Kris.

Kai had been smart and had gotten away from Kris’ range, taking the time to use Sehun’s downfall to his advantage. Although he had avoided one menace, he completely forgot about Chen lurking in the shadows, only to be reminded as a fresh snowball kissed his cheek, sending him to the floor as his feet slipped.

“Kris and Chen: one hundred, youngest members: ZERO!” Kris chanted aloud, he and Chen whooping into the chilly winter air as all three youngest were down for the count.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from Suho and Lay, sat Kyungsoo by himself, enjoying the solitude as he watched Kris down Tao in another batch of packed snow. He honestly was surprised that Suho didn’t say anything about Tao’s constant girly screams, but then again, Tao always screamed around him, making him accustomed to the high pitched shrill. 

As soon as Kris’ laughter suddenly stopped, Kyungsoo found another interesting sight as Tao slowly rose from his snowy igloo to have already frozen them. Sehun and Kai were awestruck at how amazing his powers were until the real fun began. The three boys all skid over to Chen first, scooping up handfuls of snow before packing it in his pants and shirt, making sure to add a little special present in his cap and scarf. Wobbling over to Kris again, they all stood around his frozen being to just stare at him, thinking up ways to not only get back at him, but to top their last prank of drawing all over his treasured face.

Sehun moved first, grabbing Kris’ shoulder and spinning him around so that he was not only frozen, but upside down with his head touching the ice lake. Kai moved second, stripping him out of any clothes that wouldn’t leave him indecent and get him in trouble. Tao smirked and did his part last, packing snow in his mouth, ears, boxers and even in between his armpits and while balancing little piles on his butt. Kris was now in his boxers and his thin shirt, flipped upside down and left with snow everywhere with Chen in not much better condition. The three masterminds all ran off to Luhan, Baekhyun and Chanyeol before allowing the magic to wear off. 

Kyungsoo, as a bystander, could probably help the two, but seeing how much fun the others were having, he decided to let them go for a little bit more. Instead, he listened in on Suho and Lay’s conversation about dinner that night in hopes of finding something interesting.

Suho swayed a bit in his seat before turning to Lay. “I wanted to make chicken tonight. You know... the really big one we took from the supermarket a few days ago.” 

Lay made a confused face before replying back, “Wasn’t that ham? Not chicken? I could have sworn it was ham.” 

“No, the ham was from the mini mart, they’re two separate places.” Suho clarified, looking at Lay who just hummed at his new discovery.

“If we make chicken, can we make stuffing, too?” Lay’s hands were anxiously held together as he waited for an answer.

“Sure, why not. We’d have to go back now, though, so we can make everything in time.” 

Lay jumped into the air and did a little dance before he started to dash off to the cottage, only to come jogging back with a hand sheepishly held at the back of his neck as he forgot to wait for the others to help prepare the meals. Suho managed to wobble back onto his feet to call the others back. “Guys! We need to head back to make dinner, so let’s go!”

The only person who jumped up in glee was Chanyeol, who was already starting to dance his way back to the shore when Baekhyun pulled him back. “Can we just stay and come back for dinner?”

Nobody (except Chanyeol) wanted to part with the winter wonderland just yet, just beginning the fun after waiting days for the lake to form a layer of long awaited ice. Chen and Kris had to go along with whatever was happening and Suho was too far away to notice that Kris was almost naked in the middle of the lake. “Sure, but be back before sundown so we can all eat together.”

Chanyeol watched as his only hope of getting out of the frozen tundra left him, the others cheering about having more play time while he was ready to cry. To his luck, Sehun noticed his sudden despair and slid over to him with his own personal style.

“Cheer up, Chanyeol,” he laughs, pulling his arm around his shoulders and bringing him in closer. “Everything will be fine.”

Both Suho and Lay make their way back home, their chatter dying down as they get further away from the group to eventually disappear once they return to their cabin, Chanyeol only watches sadly before turning back around, drifting with Sehun towards where everyone began to gather.

* * *

After the chicken was finally placed within the oven, Suho breathed a sigh of relief, getting rid of the nervous sweat that coated his forehead and upper lip. “There we go,” he relaxes, pulling his mitts off and staring into the dark glass. “That went better than I thought it would. I don’t think I’ve ever baked a chicken before.”

Lay was just about done with his part as well, stirring and flipping the stuffing on the stove with a wooden spoon. “I don’t think I’ve ever cooked before!” He somehow manages to boast, making Suho raise an eyebrow. “It’s fun, but my arms are getting tired.”

“I think that’s just about finished...” Suho hums, peeping into the pot. He takes the spoon from Lay and sets the pot onto another burner, turning the previous one off. “This will be a great dinner-”

The front door flies open with a panicked Tao and Kai rushing into the room, panning the area until they lock their sight on Suho. With wide eyes, Suho already feels the dread seeping into his chest.

“I-It’s- It’s horrible!” Tao stutters. “Chan-Chanyeol, and Xiumin, t-they-”

“They fell into the lake!”

Suho drops his utensils immediately and practically shoves them out of the way, making a beeline towards the lake faster than he’s ever ran before. The others trail behind him, all skidding to a halt at the edge of the lake where they take in the unfortunate disaster.

Six boys stand all together at one section of the lake, holding onto each other for securement and looking desperately towards the other side. A huge gaping hole takes over another part of the lake, where violent splashes and loud gurgles are found within the scene. Chanyeol is trying his best to grasp the ice around him, but his gloves only slide off the slippery base. Xiumin, on the other hand, is further into the center of the pool, recklessly fluttering his arms and splashing the dark water around like crazy.

“What happened?!” Suho yells. Baekhyun turns his gaze to him with worried eyes.

“The ice broke under Chanyeol, and he fell in!” he answers. “Xiumin tried saving him, but something’s wrong, a-and Chanyeol won’t stop moving, either!”

“What about Kris!? Or Luhan!? Can’t they help!?”

Baekhyun looks nervously at the two, who can only stare at Xiumin and Chanyeol as the others shout at them. “Kris tried, but they won’t calm down, so he can’t get a hold of them! Luhan can’t get his power to lift anything that he can’t carry!”

“Can Tao stop them?!”

“They’ll sink!”

Suho’s face twists into despair as he watches two of his friends drown in the slushy ice water, but he knows that there’s only one thing he can do. He dashes on the ice, struggling to keep his balance the closer he gets, and the others raise their voices at the imprudent action.

“What are you doing?!”

“You’ll drown! Stop!”

They all continue to cry, but the leader is too frantic to care about the warnings. He slides onto his knees at a stop before Chanyeol, who looks just about ready to pass out as he kicks furiously in the water. He slightly slips back in, staring up at Suho and coughing up the cold lake water. All signs of heat had left his body long ago, his ragged breathing slowly getting more unsteady.

“It will be okay, Chanyeol,” he coos from a distance, making sure he doesn’t lose sight of Xiumin, either. “It will be okay. I can get you out of here. Don’t worry, just calm. Down.”

Yet, even as Chanyeol begins to show signs of relaxation, his eyes roll back into his head as he faints instead. Suho gasps in horror, lurching forward and reaching into the water to grab hold of his arm before he could sink any further.

“J-Joonmyun-” Xiumin sputters his real name hopelessly from afar, his limbs beginning to give in as well. When his arm disappears into the water along with the rest of his body, Suho’s eyes bulge in pain as he starts to cry.

“Oh God,” he sobs, pulling onto Chanyeol’s arm with all his strength. His arm starts to numb from the cold water, his head hurting from all the action going on. “Oh God, Oh God, This can’t-”

With a few more wheezes and a cry of desperation, Suho tugs one more time with his eyes shut tight on Chanyeol. He doesn’t even recognise the pull in his gut, but his eyes open at the sound of water splashing again.

Except, there’s a wave of water suspended in the air, and he’s straining his eyes to make sure he’s seeing everything right. It’s a weird feeling, but he looks at the wave of water with hope. With a loud, forced groan, he wills the water across the ice where two boys appear when the water scatters.

Xiumin coughs up the water immediately, gasping for air and collapsing onto the ice under him. His eyes close as he regains his breath, memory tracing the amazing events that took place.

The other slides slightly across the ice as the water disperses back under the ice, but he’s completely unconscious. Suho doesn’t have the time to think back at what just happened, scrambling over to Chanyeol and flipping him onto his back. He shakes his shoulder before he places his hands on top of his chest, pumping it without pause until water spews out of his lungs as well and his eyes flutter open.

“Chanyeol!” He exhales, moving his hair out of his face with shaky, cold fingers to take a good look at him. “Chanyeol, are you okay? Tell me, are you hurt? Do you remember who I am?”

With purple lips and sunken eyes, his eyes start to shut again. “Suho…” He groans, and within seconds, he’s passed out again.

“Oh, thank God,” Suho breathes, looking around for Xiumin before crawling over to him. “Xiumin, are you-”

A shriek escapes Tao’s mouth as he points towards the group of six a bit further away on the ice, aimed directly at their feet. “Watch out!”

The ice begins to crack underneath them, shifting and teetering on the water and everyone begins to lose their balance. The feeling of disaster is back, but this time, Xiumin’s eyes flare a light blue with the sudden chill that flows over him. On instinct, he sticks his hand out and presses it against the ground, and from his hand extends a frosty coat that paints the ice pure white.

When it reaches the water, the water freezes in action in a horrifying way, the ice forming shards in the direction the water whipped. Everyone manages to slide along the slope and into the pile of snow at the shore, dazed and baffled by their near death experience. 

Suho and Xiumin’s eyes were both burning brightly even in the daylight, Suho’s eyes being a murky dark blue while Xiumin’s were aglow with a much lighter shade. Kai had his hands buried deep into the freezing snow, but he couldn’t feel anything except his heart shattering every second more that the older boys remained on the ice. Xiumin could barely keep his own head up and lay motionless on the ice. Everyone on their end was panicking like chickens and he knew he _had_ to do something.

Pleading for his feet to move, he managed to get a foot onto the frozen lake before he was suddenly flat on his butt, back in the snow where he was before. His eyes locked on to Kris, who was cutting through the air to help Suho up, struggling to lift the boy only centimeters shorter than himself. This left Chanyeol and Xiumin, but Tao and Sehun were blocked by Luhan, whose eyes were radiating with a vivid purple hue The boy held both hands out in front of them and made a few garbled noises before Chanyeol’s body was slowly moved back towards the shore, his limp body being lugged every once in a while as Luhan huffed to gather the strength to yank the boy to safety. 

Kris managed to heave Suho closer to where Xiumin was situated, the two of them working together to haul Xiumin across the ice and to where everyone greeted him worriedly. By now, most of the older boys had snapped out of their trances to help drag back whoever was too exhausted to walk or was unable to walk, back to the cottage where the smell of chicken warmed their bodies. Tao, Kai and Sehun were silently trailing after everyone and didn’t say a word until Chanyeol was under the bedsheets and the other two were resting off their feet.

“Why didn’t you let us help?” Tao stammered out, earning a glare from Kris who walked up to Tao with a menacing aura around him.

The room became heavy with each step he took, making Tao too afraid to even take a miniscule step back to put some space between them. “You really think you could have helped? Really, tell me honestly.”

Suho weakly raised his hand before letting it drop against the plush cushion of the couch, somehow managing to grab Kris’ attention, “Stop that and just take the chicken out from the oven.” He murmured, directing Kris to the kitchen to give Tao to reword what he wanted to say.

“We could have helped though…” Kai said in almost a whisper, not bothering to say more as Kris stomped back into the main room with oven mitts on his hands. The sight was amusing, but his presence made everyone more anxious. “Did you not understand why Suho sent me out of the room? Are you really trying to argue now after all this happened?”

Kris was seething, but he wasn’t the only one upset in the room. Sehun was quietly plotting his demise, boldly standing up before Kris. “You should practice what you preach, Kris, and maybe, just maybe, if you had let us help, none of this wouldn’t have happened.”

Nobody dared speak as a crooked smile formed on Kris’ face, his lips curving upwards with his teeth clenched tightly together. “So it’s my fault? Well, maybe, if you hadn’t done shit in the beginning than this wouldn’t have fucking happened either!”

Small gasps echoed through the room as Kris prodded Sehun’s chest with each pause as he spoke, almost stabbing a hole through Sehun’s shoulder from his pointed finger. “If you three dumbasses hadn’t froze me and did all of that bullshit earlier, then really, none of this would have happened! You guys are so damn blind that you can’t see-”

Sehun flinched back as Kris towered over him, tearing up under his bangs as Kris’ words shot through his heart. He almost let out a whimper as Kris kept badgering him if it weren’t for the loud noise cutting through the air.

Kris stood with his head in an awkward position, his face completely caught off guard as Suho’s hand made contact with his now swollen cheek. “Wu Yifan, we do not swear in this house and we do _not_ , blame others for things that have already happened.” 

Palms sweaty and tension at its peak, Suho couldn’t handle having a brother insult another brother, especially in this case where everyone was already upset as is. His blood was already boiling once Kris began to call out Tao, but once he spoke to Sehun like that, it just made him _snap_. 

“Y-You can’t just do that to me, I-I’m older than you!” Kris sputtered, his voice cracking under pressure. 

Xiumin placed a hand on Kris’ shoulder and frost began to spread all over his thin t-shirt, making not only him, but the entire room drop a few degrees. “Age shouldn’t matter. Suho takes care of us, so you should listen.”

His voice was smooth, but without a doubt was he pissed. Xiumin’s face was blank and showed no emotion, but the intensity in his glittering eyes said otherwise, his usual brownish orbs glowing a bright sky blue. “Let’s all sit down and speak about what happened before Suho collapses again.”

Suho’s forehead was dotted with sweat and Kris was first to move and get him into a seat, totally forgetting about what happened to help him out. Suho looked up and gave a thankful pat on the back before motioning for someone to begin.

They were all gathered in a semicircle, with Chanyeol and Baekhyun off to the side since Chanyeol was still unconscious and Baekhyun wanted to stay with him. Tao squirmed in place, debating internally if he should speak before Sehun beat him to it, “We played a prank on Kris and things got out of hand, when all of sudden the ground broke and Chanyeol fell in.” 

“Xiumin ran in to save him though, but he couldn’t for some reason-”

“And that’s when you guys came.” Kai finished up, the trio all looking at one another with nervous glances before staring at Suho who managed to catch his breath. 

“I jumped in on impulse, but my jacket was too heavy, so I kept getting pulled down.” Xiumin butted in, regretting his decisions despite how he never really got too cold during the winter.

Lay sighed and walked over to Xiumin, grabbing his arm before Xiumin let out a low hiss. “And his arm was still shot, if any of you had forgotten.” 

More heads dropped once remembering that he was still injured after one of their recent heists, the boy giving a sheepish head nod before Luhan started to speak. “After Kris was unfrozen, he bullied the three younger ones for a while when the ice suddenly broke.”

“What exactly did he do?” Suho asked, unimpressed by how Kris tried shrinking away in his blind spot.

“Well…” 

_“YOU THREE ARE DEAD!”_

_Kris raced around the ice as Sehun, Kai and Tao ran for their lives, terrified about what would happen if he had caught up to them first. Kris targeted Tao first and grabbed the boy by his ankle, pulling him up into the air before dropping him into a snow pile near a deathly terrified Chanyeol. He went after Sehun next and was in the middle of yanking his shirt off when Kyungsoo stepped in. “Kris! They probably all pissed themselves when you were unfrozen, so just let them go for now.” Trying to hide the fact that Kai was hidden very poorly behind his back._

_Kris let Sehun skid on his back for a bit before hovering back to where he was, “Nobody pranks Kris and gets away from it.” Before pushing Kyungsoo out of the way and letting Kai go for a joy ride._

_He let Kai feel the wind slap his face for a few minutes, watching amusedly as even Luhan, Baekhyun and Chanyeol steered clear of him. Kris knew he had to get the three back since not only he, but Chen was also tricked, his partner in crime freezing somewhere on the side as Xiumin just watched with a frown on his face. It was childish, but Xiumin never really did anything to Kris, even when he was doing some pretty wicked things._

_“Kris, just leave them alone already!” Kyungsoo yelled, raising his voice despite how dry his lips were from not talking most of the morning._

_Kai sailed right into the snow pile with Tao and Kris just froliced around as Chanyeol and Baekhyun scurried out of his way, the two already ready to head on home in hopes that Kris wouldn’t get any funny ideas. “Well, since you’re so stubborn to side with them, maybe you should join them.”_

_He swooped down and pulled the bottom Kyungsoo’s jeans, making him fall backwards and into the snow below. Kris cackled before turning around to the other three, “And it’s not fair since all you guys did was watch those three do that to me.”_

_Luhan acted first and stuck his two hands out, having him shoot forwards and sail right into the snow pile that Kyungsoo was currently scowling in. Baekhyun ran off first, forgetting that Chanyeol couldn’t move on ice to save his life and allowed himself to be caught by Kris, who carelessly spun him around in a circle until all eyes were watching the disaster waiting to happen._

_“Kris, let him go! He’s going to get sick!” Baekhyun cried out, watching his friend already start to go green._

_Luhan stepped forward two as he dusted the bits of snow off from his butt, “You’re going to get in trouble later, you do know that right?”_

_Kai and Tao were huddling together on the side as Sehun crawled over to meet them, the three of them tagging along together to meet with Kyungsoo and Luhan who were yelling at Kris to no avail._

_Sehun was especially angry because of the giant’s hissy fit, feeling the irritation practically rumble deep his chest to his feet. At last, Chanyeol was released, his body being slung over to the middle of the lake where he groaned and gagged at the breakfast threatening to come back up._

_Baekhyun scurried over to where he was first, only to be shocked by a loud crack under his feet. The noises only grew louder as the ice began to split, all of the ruptures leading to Chanyeol who was desperately trying to regain his breath as he fell in, almost swallowed by the thin ice and frigid water below._

_He gurgled as the cold water entered into his airways and would have probably drowned if it weren’t for Xiumin sailing in to save him. Xiumin had propped his legs up under Chanyeol’s own feet so that the boy could gain some leverage, only to push him down as his hands slipped again and again off the ice surface._

“And by then, you guys came, and the rest all happened.” Luhan concluded, the warmth starting to return to his cheeks as they became more rosy and red.

Suho pinched the bridge of his nose and said nothing as everyone watched his pained expression with heavy hearts. Kris ended up speaking in an unusual hushed voice, his lips dry as he apologized. “Sorry for being so hard headed.” 

“Well, that’s a start.” The corner of Suho’s lip curved into a small smile as Kris tried making things up to everyone, glad that he wasn’t totally unaware of how he acted. 

Chen stepped forward after keeping quiet for so long as well. “And since we’re all sorry and hungry, can we eat?” He held a hand to his stomach and eyed out the chicken in the kitchen, mouth already starting to salivate as the aroma drifted into their room.

Murmurs of agreement washed through the room, and they all went into the kitchen to make their plates, bringing it back out to the living room along with a bowl of soup for Chanyeol who wheezed a small “thanks” before downing it all and heading back to sleep. Xiumin was already feeling much better when he took the first bite, grinning from the tasty goodness within seconds. They all ate with lighter hearts and enjoyed their early holiday dinner.

Lay finished his food first and gave a happy grin to everyone that smiles back in return. “You guys all know what this means right?” 

“That Chanyeol is sick and we need to go out and get more soup later?” Baekhyun piped up, leaning against Chanyeol’s legs as he ate his chicken.

“That two more people have powers?” Chen grumbled.

Both were correct, but didn’t give the answer that Lay was looking for, shaking his head and looking up with a coy smirk on his face. “I was right and knew who would be getting their powers first.” Lay’s hands were already up in the air as jaws dropped, watching as he triumphed in succeeding the bet despite having no prize or actual motive besides bragging rights.

“Well, I bet you don’t know who will get their powers next.” Sehun muttered as he pushed the vegetables around on his plate.

He watched as Lay’s eyes wandered over to Chanyeol who wasn’t even moving in his little futon, curious to see who Lay would pick next with the tiny bit of hope that it would be he himself.

“Not going to say.” 

Grumbles and protests filled the air as Lay just laughed, not wanting to spoil anything for what would happen in the later future.


	6. Spring

What started off as a festive winter wonderland melted into the horrendous season of spring. The time when animals were expected to rise from their burrows eager for the new year, were instead replaced by the irritance of pollen filled sniffles and snotty tissues that coated the cabin’s wooden floor.

Flowers that were supposed to bloom and decorate the green grass were crushed under the rain that plummeted to the earth. The birds did not sing with grace, and only the frogs croaked loudly into the air in the dead of night when the boys struggled to dream as thunder boomed in the distance and lightning flashed in the sky.

Nobody could connect the pieces as to why the slushy lake nearly swallowed two of their brothers, but they took it as a bad omen as things began to take a turn for the worse. Many of the boys had fallen victim to the common cold, and although some had the strength of a good immune system to flush out the virus, others weren’t so fortunate. They lay weak in bed for weeks as their body temperatures skyrocketed, stomachs churned from belly aches, throats raged from hot pain and noses clogged from built up mucus.

Baekhyun was one of the first, obtaining a small cold from accompanying a shivering Chanyeol and making the mistake of using his own blanket to cover him up, but only once everyone went to sleep. Kris managed to get sick afterwards, even after his precautions of refusing to even step foot in the same room as any of the sick kids. His usual boasting attitude dimmed down until he didn't speak a word, cutting the house down by another loud voice.

The next unlucky winner to be taken down was not one, not two, but all three of the youngest boys. They all got sick as well, their usual bright and cheery attitudes snuffed out with tears of constricted airways and aching stomachs’. Tao and Sehun were especially quiet, relying on slow hand motions and nods as their temporary source of communication while their throats burned with every wheeze or gulp they made.

Kai, on the other hand, was a special case all on his own, undergoing a very unique personality change. His usual calm and tight lipped self was replaced with a whiny, almost baby-like child.

"I don't like vegetables in my soup!" Kai was practically drowning himself in his own tears as Xiumin shoved soup down his throat, stealthily crushing the softened carrots to get him to eat at least something nutritious. Luckily, the younger’s taste buds weren’t the same as before, the carrots tasting as plain as the boiled chicken broth.

He refused to eat anything unless it was fed to him and clung to whoever took care of him for the day, but his clinginess only ended up getting both Suho and Kyungsoo sick as well.

"I hate broccoli, keep it away from me!" Baekhyun hid behind Chanyeol's sleeping figure as he tossed anything that he could to keep Suho away from him. Another dinner was going by, and Suho was already feeling another migraine after having to stay up with Tao, who wouldn't stop crying during the night due to the pressure in his temples. Suho woke up in the morning with a sore back and an itchy throat to start the day.

"Please, Baekhyun, you won't get better if you don't eat your vegetables..." Suho sighed, rubbing his neck in hopes that his chilled hands would cool the swelling. He sets the soup on a nearby table, rubbing the bridge of his nose, completely given up.

Baekhyun remained hidden behind Chanyeol and was reunited with his disaster starting twin, Kai. The two banded together after having been sick for over a month now, their symptoms seemingly getting better, to only have their condition worsen.

"You will never catch us!" They cried out, breaking into a coughing fit once their voices screeched out into the air. Kai wheezed, dragging himself to the couch to lean against the cushions. Baekhyun’s face reddened the more he coughed, sticking his hand in his shirt and rubbing the middle of his chest to calm himself.

Kyungsoo came running into the main room with a small bowl of carrots in his hand, sweat already starting to bead down the side of his face as he coughed into the sleeve of his shirt. Having a white mask placed over his face, he turned to face Suho with an identical one and gave it to him with a small nudge. "He won't sit still and he won't listen to me. He’s running around and waking everyone up." Kyungsoo growled, his voice hissing through the paper mask.

Just then, Luhan came teetering into the main room with snot running down his nose, rubbing the mucus with his arm before sniffling a little. He had a little blue blanket tucked under his arm and his eyes were red and puffy.

"I don't feel good..." He groaned, his voice dropping into a little whine before his breath hitched.

Suho and Kyungsoo knew the drill and ran off out of reach, watching as Luhan's chest puffed out until he sneezed, spraying snot from his nose into the air. That wasn't all, though, and each and every item in the room began to float before abruptly slamming back to the floor with a loud bang. He repeated the process a total of four times, the room shaking from the ruckus. Glass cups and plates toppled off of tables, shattering to the ground while Baekhyun screamed each time Chanyeol's futon rose up into the air before dropping back to the ground.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Xiumin came stomping out from his room while stripping down into his boxers, frantically pushing away Chen who whined each time Xiumin managed to dislodge himself from him. "It's too hot, Chen! Stop clinging to me!"

"But it's hot, hyung, and you feel so nice..." Chen wailed, rubbing his face into Xiumin's back and admiring the chill of his skin as it presses against his cheek. Xiumin manages to whack Chen away successfully, leaving the boy in the middle of the room to enjoy the cold floor.

Suho ran over to calm the two while Kyungsoo faced Luhan's problem, wiping the boogers and mucus away from his nose before guiding him back to bed. Lay came out a few minutes later with Tao by his side, the boy holding his hand and hiccuping as they made it into the main room.

"I-I froze Sehun and I can't make him go back to normal." Tao was already starting to bawl and his powers were going out of whack, freezing and unfreezing time in different places of the room.

The small books and toys being thrown at Kyungsoo froze up in the air and gave him enough time to move before they sailed past him and scraped against the ground.

Lay stroked Tao's hair as he cried into his shoulder, "What if he's having a nightmare and now h-he can't wake up?! It's all my fault! Make my head stop hurting!"

His words were all over the place, but Lay pressed his palm to Tao's blazing forehead in an attempt to try and calm him. He pressed his fingers lightly to his neck and chest to find that the rest of his body was scorching as well.

Lay spent countless nights changing cooling packs on all of the sick ones, waking up early in the morning to warm up pots after pots of soup for everyone to eat. There were always at least two or three people that were able to help out around the house, but now with eleven sick boys, he was left outnumbered.

All Lay could do was stroke Tao's back comfortingly as he howled about how he wanted to sleep, but how his stomach wouldn't let him, growling for food every hour until his sobs slowly ceased and he passed out. His hand sat atop Tao's head, his thumb pushing away the sweaty strands of hair that were clumping together. He rubbed softly against his temples to try to ease his pain.

"Please, Lay, make it go away..." Tao groans, his complaints dying down as he leaned into Lay's chest. Everyone turns to watch with heart wrenching expressions, the room growing quiet as the only member who wasn’t sick caresses one of the youngest.

Tao may not have been in the worst pain, but seeing him in such a state would make anybody want to go up to him and do whatever it took to take those tears away. Not worrying about Tao getting him sick after being coughed on by Kai so many times, Lay leaned in with his eyes closed to press a soft kiss to Tao's forehead, letting him lean into his touch.

Once he looked up, all Lay could see was a blur of boys running towards him as his eyelids grew heavy, sleep pulling him in. He dips to the floor with enough consciousness to let him fall safely before he completely blacks out.

"Lay? Are you okay? Wake up!"

Jolting up with a sharp inhale, Lay focused his eyes and examined his situation. He’s lying in his own bed, Tao beaming at him to the right as he pounces lightly on the white bedsheets.

He rubbed the sleep out from his eyes, nearly mistaking the scene as a dream from the way the sunlight peered out from behind his face. Tao’s lips are curved into his cat-like smile, color returned to his skin and eyes shining brighter than ever before. He shifts his position and rests his back against the wall, the corners of his eyes tearing as he suppresses a yawn."Tao? What are you doing here?"

"I came to wake you up!" He chirped, jumping up from the side of the bed. “I’m all better, thanks to you!”

“Thanks to…” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and after much thought, he throws his blanket off to the side and slips off the bed. Tao’s feet patter softly as he exits the room, Lay following shortly behind him into the living room.

Sure enough, everyone else was still sick and moping around with blankets wrapped around their bodies, snot running down their noses as it plopped onto the blankets below.

"Stop running, y-you're kicking up dust." Kyungsoo wheezed, making a weak attempt to cover Luhan's face as he napped in Kyungsoo's arms. Lay looks around before crouching down next to him.

"What happened yesterday?" he asks, impatiently waiting for Kyungsoo to clear his throat.

"You were with Tao when you passed out, so we carried you to your room. Good to see you not sick, though." He said, almost jealous as Tao skipped around the room happily.

"Why isn't he sick? This isn't fair!" Kai complained, glaring at Tao who gave a coy smirk back at him.

Lay watched as the two bickered and wandered over to Luhan who was still asleep in Kyungsoo's arms. His lips were a tinted blue, light sweat covering his forehead and neck as he wheezed lightly. Lay places two fingers to his forehead tentatively, squinting his eyes until he sure enough felt something churn in his stomach.

Lay continued to watch his hands glow as the same warmth enveloped them, just as they did yesterday. All of a sudden, everything is black and white, save the transitions of a light blue to a bruising purple that covers certain places on various bodies scattered throughout the room. His own body was a sky blue hue and he took note of how Luhan’s body had purple blotches located at his nose, throat and chest cavity. 

While taking a peek at his chest first, Lay eyed out what seemed to be Luhan's lungs. The two organs darkened against the rest of his body, puffing quickly from exhaustion. His eyes trailed up to his neck, nose, and head where everything heated up from his illness. Taking in the clues and his personal theory, Lay concludes that he’s able to see specific points of pain on each persons’ body.

Kyungsoo's jaw drops when he focuses on the other, gasping, "Lay! Your eyes…!"

His irises bloomed with an emerald glimmer along with his hands, reflecting softly on Luhan’s sweaty forehead as his ragged breaths turned smooth and calm. He holds his breath, gnawing his lip as he hopes that what he predicted would be correct.

Once he withdrew his hand from Luhan's head, he slumped his shoulders forward with an exhale. Snapping out of his daze, he slaps his hands against Kyungsoo’s cheeks and squeezes them tightly, his lips puffing out and eyes squeezing shut as Lay oozes a green glow from his palms and fingertips.

The process continued until he finishes up with a light brush to his forehead and throat, and once he removes his hand, Kyungsoo just stares. Lay’s hopeful eyes keep his own wide, and when he begins to take note of the liveliness that disperses throughout his body, his eyes drip salty tears. The burning sensation in his throat is replaced with a cool one, his head and chest ridding of the pain within seconds. Lay gave a feeble smile before crawling over to Kai who was creating too much of a racket for the ones who slept miserably.

He let his fingers warm up against Kai's temples until his constant jabbers stopped and he slowly closed his eyes, curling up in his blanket and drifting back into the state of unconsciousness.

As everyone except Tao, Kyungsoo and himself slept, he quickly got to work before anyone could have woken up. He went to Suho first and pressed his palms to his back before wandering over to Xiumin next, waving and rubbing in green before placing a thin blanket over him to keep him covered. Despite his efforts to keep them asleep, everyone began to awaken to witness his last miracle of the night.

His eyelids drooped as he crawled towards the worst of them all- Chanyeol. The whole month had passed without a word from the younger, his body shivering as his eyes sunk further into his skull and physique grew sickly thin from the lack of nutrients. He breathed painfully, his expression twisted as he did his best to bear the agony that took over his entire body. His teeth chattered through the many layers of blankets set upon him, despite how hot his fever seemed to be. Lay took a deep breath and focused on whatever energy he had, cupping Chanyeol's cheeks until he stopped shaking and began to open his eyes.

"L-Lay?" he croaks, purple lips and pale skin returning the lively pink tone he had once had.

Lay smiled, relieved at the life that seemed to fill his eyes after long weeks of torment. He passes out once again, letting the desire to sleep consume him at last.

* * *

“So, you’re telling me that Suho, Xiumin  _ and _ Lay all got their powers while I was sick?” Chanyeol said in disbelief, glaring hard at the so said boys that all just shrugged. “I don’t believe you.”

Baekhyun slapped his palm against his forehead at Chanyeol’s stubbornness. “If you stopped being so stubborn, then you’d see that Xiumin had been using his power this whole time!”

Xiumin was laying down on the couch and mixing what appeared to be some kind of chocolate milk in a bowl. He swirled the dairy around until it began to harden, eventually whipping itself into semi-solid cream.

“Psh, anyone can make ice cream when it’s still this cold outside. Watch.”

Swiping the bowl from his hands, Chanyeol shut his eyes tightly and stirred its contents, pulling out the spoon to find it bent in the neck. “W-What?” he stuttered, frozen chocolate now dripping back into the bowl as he carefully examined the spoon.

Baekhyun just tapped his foot impatiently as his friend’s mind began to wander as he tried coming up with an explanation for why the ice cream thawed in his hands. “I told you, it’s because Xiumin froze it! Look, the inside isn’t even ice cream anymore...” He grumbled, taking his finger and dipping it into the soup. He swirled it around in the mixture until something stung the tip of his finger, making him draw his hand back frantically as the heat went from lukewarm to scalding.

“No, Baek! The bowl!” Chanyeol flinched as some of the liquid splattered against him, making him drop everything to try and get rid of what got into his eyes.

The bowl had been turned over and the insides were coated with ice. Xiumin was still, but held a hand out in time to touch the chocolate and freeze it completely, preventing the liquid inside from splattering all over the ground. When it reaches the floor, the contents shatter against the wood in every direction, and everybody pauses with gasps and flinches.

“...God, Chanyeol, you’re so stupid!” Baekhyun stomped off, Chanyeol following suit once making sure that Xiumin was okay.

“I wanted to eat that, too…” Sehun whined, looking at Xiumin who just shrugged his shoulders. “I know how to freeze, but it doesn’t go back to normal, so.” His eyes stared at the bits of chocolate ice scattered among the floor before scooping as much as he could up with his hands and dumping it in the sink.

“What if Chanyeol and Baekhyun stopped being friends?” Chen wondered aloud, everyone jumping in their seats as the thunder rumbled in the air.

Suho sat down next to Chen and just patted his back assuringly, “The chances of that happening are close to zero since they’re so close. Plus, they wouldn’t fight about something this small, right?”

“Go! Away!”

One of the doors in the hall slams shut with a wide-eyed Chanyeol skidding to a stop after being shoved out of the room. His face was startled as he looked back at the boys and towards the door, helplessly standing outside in a daze.

The mood in the room dropped as Chanyeol trudged to the couch, slumping down against Kyungsoo who just hissed as he was crushed under the boy’s weight. Baekhyun came out from his hiding place a few minutes after, giving Chanyeol a brief, but intense stare before turning the other way with a huff. Nobody could speak and remained quiet, communicating through eye contact and small gestures, but Chen was the only one who wouldn’t sit still, his eyes scanning the room for something that the majority of the others couldn’t understand.

“Can we just talk this over? My neck is getting stiff.” Kris groaned, rubbing the side of his neck while leaning over Xiumin who propped him up on his side. “Chen is freaking me out, too, since he keeps moving around.”

“Well, who wouldn’t be anxious in this situation.” Eyes turned to look at Lay who was too busy being engrossed by the soft light emitting from his palms to notice the stares directed at him. Baekhyun looked away with a faint red tint in his cheeks while Chanyeol was put in a trance at the sight of Lay’s powers.

“So… Baekhyun wasn’t kidding when he said you guys got your powers.” He breathed out, attracted towards the light like a moth to a fire. "B-Baek... I-"

A loud slam echoed through the room, breaking Lay's concentration and making the warm light dissipate from his palms. "Don't even talk to me!" Baekhyun yells from the room as he slams his hands on the table.

"Yikes." Sehun muttered under his breath, making Tao giggle. Kai had to hush Tao up before Baekhyun really snapped, his ears practically spewing steam with every second that passed by.

"Anyways," Suho cut in. "Since some of us have gotten our powers, it's only right that we debrief since we're all gathered here together."

"You sound like a church priest." Kris grumbled, making Tao puzzled as he tugged on the edge of his shirt.

"What's a church priest?"

"You've never been to church before?" Kris leaned back in awe as Tao shook his head.

“Am I supposed to know what it is?” Tao bluntly asked, oblivious to the way Suho placed a hand over his chest as if he were having a heart attack.

Tao glanced over to Sehun and Kai who just shrugged in response, not really understanding the reference. The three of them had been together for a while now, stealing food and knick-knacks as a ragtag team of skilled thieves. They’ve seen the disturbing truths of fast food restaurants and the secrets behind the strangest smells in the city, but out of their entire years of living they’ve never heard of any sort of phrase relating to any sort of church or priest.

“Ohh, we didn’t go to visit the church since we were too busy around Christmas.” Lay exclaimed. A light bulb appeared above Suho’s head before he stood up with a delighted grin on his face. “We should visit the church again! Now that we have three more to our group, we can all go in an even bigger group! The pastor will be pleased…”

Suho kept blabbering on about how it would be a great bonding exercise for all of them to go to church, making a lot of the others lose interest and continue on with what they were doing prior to the announcement. His voice would only waver when the skies rumbled every minute or so, the air crackling from mother nature’s work.

“Maybe we should head over today?” Kyungsoo piped up. “So we can just get this over with.” He muttered under his breath, tilting his head down so that Suho couldn’t see how his eyebrow kept twitching.

“Sure! We can go before the storm hits-”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Kai cut in. “As much fun as this church thing sounds, the weather doesn’t seem to agree with it.” He pointed out the window and small specks of water splattering with clicks and taps against the wet glass.

“Yeah, uh, looks like something bad’s going to happen if we go. Or, something bad will probably happen to us if we stay, so we might as well just stay to make it easier on us.” Chen added in, his hands waving around unnecessarily in the air.

“Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow, then.” Suho gave a small shrug and the boys all cheered secretly when he wasn’t looking, his eyes being too occupied by Chanyeol who was still sulking on the floor.

He made his way over to Baekhyun first in hopes that he'd cooled down enough, initiating a conversation before he had gotten back into his mood again. Tao on the other hand, slunk over where Sehun and Kai were deep in conversating.

“No, I don’t think that’s it. Church is probably some kind of traditional thing, like how people wear nice clothes on Fridays or something.” Sehun pondered. He bit his lip in hopes it would make his statement make a little more sense.

“Well, I still think it’s like a ritual thing. Like, they all have to go to it right? Then it’s probably something they want us to do because we’re the new ones.”

Tao and Sehun looked at Kai who was nodding his head slowly, as if still unsure even after trying to prove his point again.

“Church is where you practice your religion, morons.” Kris butted in, slouching against the wall on a pillow.

"And even if we did go tomorrow..." Luhan began, "It won't be the same. We've done too many bad things to expect something good out of it."

The thunder continued to boom, and as the room flashed brightly every so often, Chen continued to shake his leg and clench his fists. Rain flung into the windows and crashed against the roof shingles with loud pops, and as the seconds went by, the storm grew louder.

The more the thunder and lightning seemed to grow stronger, the more weird Chen felt. He anticipates each and every moment the lightning flashes in the sky, biting his lip when he realizes that his predictions always came true. He doesn't understand the churning feeling in his stomach until he recalls a couple of the members talking about it- that feeling meant his  _ power  _ would awaken. Or maybe...

Curiosity gets the best of him, and with every ' _ now!' _ that pops into his head, the thunder booms louder, and the lightning flashes brighter. Some of the members worriedly look outside, and the stormier it gets, the more worried Suho looks. When everyone's too quiet in the midst of the raging rain and light, he uneasily slides the curtains and covers the windows.

"Oh," Kris smirks, crossing his arms. "I forgot. Suho is-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the lights begin to flicker dimly until the room turns completely dark. A few boys gasp, letting out girlish squeals of surprise and slight terror as their eyes adjust. When it quiets down, Chen bites his lip, and the thunder strikes again.

“D-Dear god!” Suho jumped in the air as the thunder boomed overhead, scurrying over to Xiumin. The boy’s face was straight and seemed calm, but the frost forming on the tips of his hair said otherwise.

The boys all sat huddled together, petrified by the rumbling and sudden flashes outside. Even with their eyes shut tight, the bright lights of lightning were able to show through, striking fear through each and every poor soul.

Kyungsoo did his best to peel Chanyeol off his legs, the shaking going up to his thighs making him feel highly uncomfortable as Chanyeol continued to cling to him for dear life. “Well this is just perfect.” He grumbled.

“It would be a real shame if we had gotten hit by some lightning.” Chen hummed, making the air thick as the doubt and anxiety went through everyone's minds.

Suho pulled at the collar of his shirt, “That’s not possible though. I mean, getting shocked, right?” He whimpered. Beads of sweat trickled down his temple as Chen shrugged, not really looking as if it mattered.

“Probably not, since we’re indoors... But you never know. Lightning could strike anytime, even…” Chen’s voice dropped down into a whisper, making heads lean in to get the last bit of what he was saying. “Now.”

The loudest crash rolled in at that moment. Pain seared through their ears as the thunder paralyzed their bodies, only becoming mobile once a scream cut through the air.

“H-HELP.” Baekhyun’s words were barely incomprehensible through his wild hissing and garbled yelps. His body was convulsing on the floor as he held onto his arm, it being red and almost as if he were slightly burned.

Chanyeol was first to release his death grip on Kyungsoo’s legs to rush over, propping up his body so that his head was elevated. “Baek! Baekhyun, speak to me! Who am I? What is my name?” He babbled out, rubbing the build up of tears in his eyes.

“Ch-Chanyeol?” Baekhyun twitched again before a sigh of relief was released on both sides, everyone else able to pick up what happened after everything had calmed down a bit more.

Lay acted after Baekhyun started to fall asleep, worried about his wounds. Taking a deep breath, he began to concentrate as wisps of green coated his hands, the light giving his eyes more insight as he looked Baekhyun over. Nothing seemed wrong besides how his shoulder was a little bruised from hitting the ground so fast. His eyes trailed towards Baekhyun’s clutched arm and saw a small dot of red almost penetrating through the skin, the area branching out and running through his nerves at a fast pace. Placing a palm over the spot, Lay placed another palm on Baekhyun’s back, rubbing it comfortingly as his heartbeat slowed from it’s unnatural speed.

“He should be okay now…” Lay heaved, unaware that he was holding his breath.

More boys began to crowd around Baekhyun as he stirred, eyes fluttering open as he still held his arm. Lay could see something still making it pulse, but seeing that the skin was no longer of a strange shade, he let it go as the boy awoke.

“Baekhyun, what happened?” Suho fussed over him, only to be swatted away. Suho backed off as Baekhyun sat up with a frown on his face. His eyes were squinted at first until finding his target, giving a slap upside the head to his victim as the sound echoed through the room. “BAEKHYUN!”

“N-No, I kind of deserved that...”

Heads whipped around to find Chen rubbing his head with a small pout on his lips, clenching his teeth as Baekhyun hit him again in his arm. “O-Okay! And maybe that, but-”

Baekhyun was ready to drive his foot into Chen’s face if Chanyeol hadn’t pulled him back. “BUT NOT THAT, JEEZ.”

Tao toddled forward first, tapping Baekhyun lightly on his healed up shoulder. “Uhm, what just happened? And why are you hitting Chen?”

“I’ll tell you why! It’s because this guy is such a tease!” He roared, “If he hadn’t played around so much, I wouldn’t have turned into a human lightning rod!”

“Lightning rod?” Tao questioned bewilderedly, earning a shrug from Sehun who didn’t understand either.

“So wait, were you hit by the lightning?” Suho choked out. Baekhyun slapped a palm over his forehead and shook his head fervently.

“No, hyung, I’m saying that Chen got his power and used it to shock me.”

Luhan ran over to Chen and examined the boy himself. “So, his power is thunder?”

Taking a step back, Chen nodded his head slowly, stopping mid-nod before letting out a hum. “Well, not thunder since I can’t make the sound, but recently since it’s been storming, I’ve been able to tell when lightning would strike and all…” He began to twiddle his thumbs together and paused again, “Oh! I can do this too!”

He pushed some of the others back before standing alone on one side of the room, sticking his two pointer fingers together before drawing them out slowly, a small string of electricity flickering between his fingertips.  His pink eyes were glowing in the darkness of their cottage, the light reflecting off of the windows and walls.

Kris flew over to Chen and scooped him off the ground with a grin on his face, “Welcome to the powers group, my friend, where you have this power and also are kind of like, ten times cooler than what you used to be before.”

Shouts of protest came from the powerless ones, but other than that, Chen felt kind of relieved to let his secret out.

“Well, whoop dee doo for him.” Baekhyun grumbled, still bitter from becoming a science experiment in front of everyone.

“Why did you use your powers on Baekhyun if you already knew that he was, well… Like that?” Kai asked curiously, watching as Baekhyun sank deeper into Chanyeol’s chest as his anger died down.

Chen almost shrugged again if it weren’t for the amount of eyes watching him, “Well, uh… I didn’t know I could do the electricity thing until after I accidentally shocked him. I was only going to scare him when the thunder came! Plus, I didn’t do anything that bad...”

“YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!”

“Well, you and Baekhyun aren’t fighting anymore, so I guess that’s one less problem.” Kyungsoo mumbled. Baekhyun had completely forgotten about their little squabble after almost seeing the light, comforted by how Chanyeol was first to rush forward to make sure he was okay. Chanyeol managed to simmer down, embracing Baekhyun in relief once again.

“You could tell that idiot got his powers, too, stupid psychic.” Baekhyun groaned as Chanyeol suffocated him. “All of his twitching around was making me irritated.”

Chen gave a sly grin before responding back. “Well, nobody twitched as much as you on the ground a couple minutes ago.” He teased, cackling cut short by Baekhyun’s sharp glare. He makes a face before slouching into one of the chairs again, twiddling his thumbs and connecting the small sparks between them.

The storm seemed to barely lighten up when the tension in the room eased, and when Suho and Luhan finished placing candles on the shelves and tables, Suho leaned into the couch with his hand pinching between his eyes.

"Isn't this weird...?" He groans. "I wish I knew what was going on..."

Kris shrugs, nuzzling Chen on his head with his fist. "I don't have any problems with it."

Luhan made his way over to Xiumin and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “Seven down, five more to go.” Taking the blanket from off the ground, he wrapped it around their bodies and shivered at how contradicting Xiumin’s cold skin felt against the heat coming from the blanket wrapped around the two. “Things are getting better, or well, will get better for some.”

His eyes wandered over to Chanyeol who was still smothering Baekhyun with his unconditional love, the latter’s face red either from his embarrassment or the lack of oxygen running to his lungs.

“Baek, Baek! When do you think I’m going to get my powers?” Chanyeol asked with sparkles in his eyes.

“I don’t know, why won’t you just ask Chen since you’re already all over him!”

_ “Or jealous…”  _ Luhan laughed at the thought, watching as Chen snuck over and shocked Chanyeol to Baekhyun’s delight.  _ “But you never really know with this group of boys.” _

  
  



	7. Summer

Everyone’s health is recovered, much thanks to Lay’s kindness, his overbearing concern for the others being a better pro than a con. He’s called in for many small situations, the rough play between the group scratching and bruising small areas on their energetic bodies, and it isn’t too hard to take care of- he’s definitely gotten used to it as his powers got stronger with each use.

The days begin to bring forth sweaty upper lips and sudden lake-jumping urges, and Chanyeol feels like he’s having the time of his life. Summer was the season of freedom; the season of relaxation; the season of _fun._ Literal fun, this time.

Yet, fate doesn’t seem to side with his eagerness- not this year.

“Are we going out today again?” Chanyeol pounces into the room, grinning from ear to ear at the other members who lounge on stacks of blankets and cotton pillows. “Are we?!”

Luhan turns over on the couch, facing the cushions with a small groan. “I’m tired,” he whines. “Maybe tomorrow.”

Almost everyone in the room, including Lay, groan nauseously at the heat that bakes the top of their heads. Empty bottles of water are scattered across the floor, dried up rags hanging off sills of opened windows, and fans are blasting hot air into the faces of the exhausted boys. Chanyeol frowns at their miserableness.

“I’m bored, though…” he mutters. He took a seat next to Luhan and kicked his feet angrily, heels pounding at the bottom of the couch. Bits of dust fly up into the air as he continues to throw his hissy fit. 

“Stop moving! You’re making it more hot!” Xiumin growled, ripping off his shirt and laying faced down on the floor. His power was fizzing out and would continuously create small bursts of cool air before the room got hot and stuffy again, repeating the process as the boys were put through the hellish heat.

Chanyeol wanders over to Kyungsoo who was fanning both himself and Kai with a makeshift fan made out of paper plates and chopsticks. He snuggled in between Kyungsoo’s legs, pressing his body right against Kai’s, who was also currently resting with his back flush against Kyungsoo’s chest. “Do you guys want to play with me?” 

The heat in the air cooked Kai’s brain to mush as he whined from the loss of air blowing against his face. Kyungsoo stared at Chanyeol before he continued to make the gusts of wind, flicking his sore wrist every second to keep the crybaby in his lap sane. “Maybe next time, Chanyeol. It’s a little too hot to move right now.” 

Giving a small nod and sulking over to Tao, he sat directly in front of him, imitating his cross-legged pose. Sweat poured down his neck and his eyes were shut, expression serene even in this dreaded weather. He waved a hand experimentally across Tao’s face in hopes he would snap out of his trance, only to have it grabbed by Kris who shook his head. 

“He won’t move from his stupid meditation thing. Trust me, I tried.” 

Chanyeol glanced down at Kris’ grip on his wrist and found small purple blotches lining down the other’s forearm. He scrunches up his eyebrows and cringes lightly at the assortment of colors. “Why don’t you ask Lay to heal you?” 

Kris sighed and flopped onto his back, hand crawling up to his neck as he wiped away the sweat. “He doesn’t really look like he’s in the mood.”

“Yeah, but he’d still heal you. He’s nice that’s why.” Chanyeol argued, making Kris sit back up with a frown. 

“Have you not _seen_ him recently?” he squints. Chanyeol’s eyes scan the room.

“Why is it so hot in here? This is outrageous and unfair…! Xiumin, why can’t you just freeze the room over or something? Save us from this heat! What if the others get heat stroke or something?!” 

Lay was currently babbling on to Xiumin who had already dozed away into dreamland, his limbs sprawled out on the floor to air out his poor heated body.

“Kris! Get your butt over here and explain to me why you got hurt when we’re not even doing anything!” Kris rolled his eyes and looked at Chanyeol who held two hands up in defeat, slinking away from the scene as Lay caught sight of the green and blue bruises lining Kris’ arm.

After crossing his arms and fussing to himself for the longest time, Chanyeol slips off the couch and trots over to a sleepy Baekhyun who lies on the floor. He covers his eyes with his arm, huffing from the uncomfortable air that enters his lungs and heats his chest.

“Baek,” Chanyeol begins, lying near him and poking his head. “You’ll hang out with me, won’t you?”

Baekhyun groans, sweaty hands lightly whacking Chanyeol's away. “Not today, Chanyeol.” he mumbles, snuggling closer to Xiumin as he weakly brushes him off. Sulking, the taller tugs at Baekhyun’s shirt impatiently, yanking at the fabric as it pulled against his neck.

“Come on,” he pulls. “Please?”

With a final huff and irritation rising, Baekhyun angrily rises from the floor and runs his hand through his hair. Without a word, he quickly heads straight for the front door and slams it close on the way out. As always, Chanyeol scurries up from the floor and runs out the front door after him.

The air is awfully dry, and in the distance, Baekhyun can see the blur of nature that wobble in the sun rays. He rubs his eyes with the tips of his fingers, wipes his moist hands on his shorts, and walks straight towards the lake. The still water seemed to calm how jittery his body felt, emotions swirling as the irritation rose from the heat and also from Chanyeol whom he thought he had ditched. 

“Wait up!” Chanyeol calls out from behind, catching up to him with a mere five strides, and Baekhyun curses the boy’s lengthy legs. He’s too hot to deal with his dear friend, so he decides to ignore him the whole way, bending over at the edge of the lake and dipping his hands into the cool water. He cups them underneath and snaps his arms upwards, splashing the fresh water into his feverish face. 

Chanyeol bends down next to him, running his pointer finger over the surface of the lake. The water felt warm as it splashed against his hand, so he didn't understand. “What do you want to do today?”

Baekhyun merely ignores him again, rising after closing his eyes to relax. He sways to the right and walks along the rim of the lake, ducking under low tree branches as he leads himself deeper into the forest. The trees seem to grow taller, looming over the two and casting wider shadows than before, their large structures blocking the sunlight. Of course, Chanyeol scurries closely behind.

He kicks at a few stones before picking one of them up, flinging it towards the body of water. His first attempt fails, but when he does it again, it skips five times until it falters, eventually swallowed by the deep blue.

“Look!” Chanyeol laughs and points, but Baekhyun is further ahead, so he catches up to him again. When the smaller turns, he eyes Chanyeol secretly before moving and curving around the trees.

“Baekhyun, look-”

“I want to be alone, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows when he’s forced to stop, standing behind Baekhyun who doesn’t turn around. The sun continues to burn above them, but they both ignore the sticky feeling that coats their skin.

“But-”

“I didn’t come outside because I wanted to hang out with you,” he admits, turning his body to the side. “It was getting too hot inside, so I left.”

Awkwardly rubbing his arm behind his back, Chanyeol feels the blush rise to his cheeks in embarrassment. “Oh,” he mumbles. “I thought you wanted to…”

Baekhyun turns back around, ready to walk on ahead. “Go home, Chanyeol. I’ll be back shortly.”

Even so, when Baekhyun reaches the next tree, Chanyeol starts to follow him again, trying his best to keep his clumsy steps quiet as he seems to step on the crunchiest leaves and branches laying around. Baekhyun attempts to pay no attention, but it’s no use when the other starts calling his name again.

“Baekhyun, look! I-”

“Chanyeol!”

Dropping the stick in his hand, Chanyeol stares up at an angry Baekhyun, face red with anger. He digs his nails into the palms of his hands, lips clenched and ready for an outburst.

“Why do you keep following me? I told you, I want to be alone!”

“But, I just want to hang out with-” Chanyeol looked down at his shoes and glared at the stick he had dropped earlier, blaming it on why Baekhyun was chewing him out.

“You’re so irritating!” He groans, now pacing around bitterly. “You always follow me, and you’re always in my space, and I just...!”

Dropping his head even lower, Chanyeol looks down at the leaves underneath his feet. He’s completely ashamed, falling deeper into the feeling the more Baekhyun bit at him. 

“You always cause so much trouble to me! I just want to be alone, can’t you see?”

Chanyeol doesn’t look up, or rather, he doesn’t bother. Facing Baekhyun like this would make his feelings hurt even more than it already was. 

“You’re so hyper, and all you talk about is getting your new powers. I could care less!”

Chanyeol’s head snapped up as Baekhyun began to reveal the truth. All these times that he’s gushed about how amazing it would be to have a power, Baekhyun had smiled and cheered him up as the others got their own powers one by one. “I just want to be there for-”

“For me? You can’t! Never would I want someone like you to be there for me! Someone so...annoying! Useless!”

His words prick at Chanyeol’s skin and send goosebumps all over his body. Tears form in his eyes, and he’s shaking, but Baekhyun only continues to shout at him.

“You’re the worst! Friend! Ever!” he yells, inhaling a deep breath. “I HATE YOU!”

The statement has Chanyeol spewing out tears like a fountain, collecting at his chin and dripping down his neck as Baekhyun’s figure retreated from in front of him. But even though his chest is hurting from the insults, he still reaches out for Baekhyun when he begins to walk away. He snatches his wrist and tugs on it lightly, but he definitely doesn’t expect him to yelp out in pain.

The longer he holds on, the more Baekhyun thrashes under his grip, and he doesn’t understand why, still desperately holding in hopes that he would forgive him before they get into another fight like before. Baekhyun’s face scrunches up in agony as he continues to try to peel Chanyeol off his arm and hand, but he still doesn’t let go.

“It hurts!” Baekhyun sobs, falling to the floor and flailing violently. “Chanyeol, it hurts! IT HURTS!”

It’s only after one more scream does Chanyeol realize that he’s hurt his friend, but he doesn’t realize that it was that serious until he sees his skin blistered pink and red from his pinky all the way up and around his entire wrist. He rolls around and breathes heavily, staring at his shaky arm that drips blood as the pain scorches up his body.

“I-It, It h-hurts, h-hur-”

Baekhyun’s suffering only makes Chanyeol panic, but when he reaches out again, Baekhyun pushes himself back with his feet, falling into the loose leaf piles as the dirt coats his clean clothes.

“D-Don’t touch me! Stop!”

Managing to touch his hand to examine it, Baekhyun yelps again, kicking furiously and backing away to lean against one of the trees. Chanyeol only stares in utter shock and confusion.

“I don’t…” he trails off with a deep frown. His lower lip quivers and his face heats up from pain. The tears begin to dribble down his cheeks, one by one. “Why are you…”

The feelings that build up in his chest are too much for him to handle as he begins to hyperventilate, but Baekhyun can only look with fear in his eyes as Chanyeol melts to the ground. The leaves underneath his palms smoke at first, but burst into flames the more Chanyeol seemed to freak out. The fire spreads out around him, the orange and yellow tinting Baekhyun’s eyes and casting their warm shadows against the doomed green. Soon, the two of them are enveloped in a ring of flames, trapped in the center as the fire roars around them.

Too shocked to say a word, Baekhyun doesn’t move. The scene before him is too petrifying, wide eyes glued to the erupting Chanyeol who casts anything around him on fire the more he cries. Before they know it, the entire area is lit like terrorizing candles, smoke rising to the sky and leaves crackling as they dissolve into dust.

Chanyeol’s never felt so guilty and hurt before in his life. He’s too caught up in his own emotions to realize that everything that surrounded him had turned into a burning hell, and Baekhyun’s losing consciousness at the sight of it. He wipes his eyes and nose repeatedly, but his cries only become louder and louder.

“Chanyeol!” Someone calls from behind him. “Chanyeol! Chanyeol!”

Chen shouts as loud as he can to surpass the roaring fire, accompanied by Suho who faces the water, fingers curled and lips tight. Suho held his hands out in front of his face and bent his fingers as if he were crushing something in his hands, willing water from the lake as the pull in his gut began to cramp and ache. Chanyeol sees the wave of blue past his wet eyelashes, and when the mass amount of water washes upon him, his flames disperse. 

It’s no longer a forest. Rather, the ground is ashed black, and Baekhyun lies limp across from Chanyeol with ashes smeared on his cheeks. Suho managed to smother the raging forest fire with his powers, collapsing onto his knees and ignoring the sizzle on his skin as he heaved, out of breath from such a feat. Chen ran over to Baekhyun and helped Lay prop him up so that it was easier to look at his injuries. The blistering on his hand spread farther up his arm and the areas that weren’t covered by clothes were raw and red. Luckily, his t-shirt and shorts took most of the damage, covered in soot and bitten from the flames.

Lay went to work as soon as he managed to identify what was worse, working on soothing the burnt skin around Baekhyun’s hand and arm. Chanyeol could only watch as Baekhyun stayed in his sleep-like state, eyes not opening even after Lay had finished and had run over to check him for any burns.

“Chanyeol? Chanyeol! Can you hear me?” Lay shook Chanyeol’s shoulders until he had snapped out of his trance, looking at him with tear stained cheeks. “It’s alright, Chanyeol, but I need you to answer a few questions for me. Are you burned anywhere? Do you feel any pain anywhere?”

With a short shake of his head, Lay checked him over once more and left to go and heal Suho, whose skin was slightly red from standing so close to the flames. _“Are you burned anywhere? Do you feel any pain anywhere?”_

Lay’s words echoed through Chanyeol’s train of thoughts as his hand rose up to his chest, hovering over his heart as he took another look at Baekhyun, still not moving on the dead pile of leaves. 

“It’s no good, the whole area around here is still burning.” Kris swooped down and was astonished by how black the nature was, cringing at how dead everything looked up close.

“Me and Suho can go out and try to put out the flames with our powers. Tao, can you try and freeze some of the fire so it doesn’t spread?” Xiumin stepped forward and the two others nodded, preparing themselves for the war.

“I can try and carry water onto the fire closest to the shores.” Luhan stepped forward and his eyes flashed a iridescent purple as Xiumin nodded, accepting any sort of help they can get. 

“I’ll use the bucket back at the house to try and put out some of the fire too.” Kris jumped in, already taking off before Xiumin stopped him. 

“Bring back more buckets for the others so they can help!”

“I know!” Eyes turned to look at Tao who was strangely excited despite the fire that was a good hundred feet away from them. “We can have Chanyeol start a new fire to put out the old one, just like in that show that me, Kai and Sehun were watching at the minimart!” 

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Tao.” Sehun shot him down and Xiumin hushed the two of them to stop the unnecessary arguing. “Chanyeol, can you take a bucket when Kris gets back to help put out the fire?”

Eyes bore into Chanyeol’s soul as he hesitated, having his mouth open as no words came out. He looked down at his palms and shook his head fervently, the dread building up in his stomach making him queasy.

“Alright, that’s fine. Lay, you come with us to heal whoever gets hurt.” 

Lay began to argue with Xiumin, as he made Baekhyun a bit more comfortable, “But I need to take care of Baekhyun-”  
“And that’s why Chanyeol will stay with him and watch him. Now, everyone, you know what you have to do, so let’s do this.” 

The group began to disperse as the race against the clock began, scampering around to try and put out the fire before it was too late. Chanyeol watched as everyone left and looked down at the unconscious Baekhyun who was a good five feet away.

“S-Sehun, wait!” Chanyeol stopped himself before he had managed to grab Sehun’s shoulder, still afraid he would have a repeat of what happened before.

“I’m a little busy here Chanyeol...” 

“I know, but… Can you stay here and watch Baekhyun? I-I don’t think I can-”

“Look Chanyeol, we’re all tired and it’s hot, and since you’re the only one that can’t do anything right now, you stay. Just watch him and make sure he doesn’t get hurt or whatever.” Sehun looked Chanyeol deep in the eyes before stomping off to the lake, tossing Kai another bucket to fill so that they could get rid of the fire faster. 

Chanyeol couldn’t speak or move, arms numb and legs tingly where Baekhyun’s head rested almost peacefully. His fingers hesitate to touch his skin, hovering over his forehead and wishing to sweep his hair out of his eyes, but he decides not to. He lets his arms drop, fingers brushing against the black powder underneath him, and the only thing he can do is stare.

Baekhyun had the energy and life sucked out of him, lips still dry and skin still red despite Lay’s efforts to heal him. He’d have to wait until they all got back home to properly take care of him.

He watches as the other boys stumble with pails filled with water drooping past their knees, heaving them over and patting down the extra flames that continue to stick to the greenery. The fact that they were covering for his mistake made him relieved that he had such great friends, but something was bothering him deep down. It felt like something was building up and it made him realize another thing. 

If he had just listened to Baekhyun and went back when he was told, none of this would have happened. He wouldn’t have started this entire forest fire, and Baekhyun wouldn’t have gotten hurt if he had just done something as small as _listening._ It was something even a child could do, but he simply ignored it. It was all his fault.

Everything was building up and soon his hands were beginning to glow, his eyes burning brightly as his gut pulled once, twice and a third time, the lights shining from his palms matching the movement in his abdomen. He lets a few tears fall.

Meanwhile on the side, Suho was trying his best to pull more of the water from the lake without hitting any of the boys that were near the shoreline, but his arms began to lag as it became harder to use his powers. He looked around and saw everyone else struggling to work as well. Tao, who was already on his knees, slowly caved in as his frozen flames began to crackle to life again. Xiumin wasn’t doing much, either, his frost able to put out small patches of fire, but useless against the giant walls of violent flames.

Luhan was struggling to keep the buckets that carried his water from the lake to the shore afloat, clutching his temples as his head began to sag down. The fire continued to burn while they were running out of fuel, the battle almost fruitless if it weren’t for the strange waves of heat he was feeling. Suho felt the heat weigh him down, the water feeling heavier under his grip, but even as his knees buckle under the pressure, he looks up with a bit of hope.

The fire surrounding the area began to die down, and he watched as the flames swirled into light, almost innocent strips of beautiful and noiseless ribbons. Chanyeol’s eyes burned a fiery scarlet and the waves of fire pulled into his opened up palms, dissolving with an orange glow in his skin until it was gone.

“A-Are we done?” Tao wheezed, not aware of what was happening with Chanyeol. He only looked at the bare landscape in hopes Suho would give the okay.

Chanyeol could feel more and more power surge through his veins as the light gathered around him, palms feeling warm and almost feather like. It made him feel at ease, almost forgetting what he had done until Baekhyun’s limp body came into view again, re-lighting his rage and anger, but mostly fear. His body shook and almost began to convulse if it weren’t for his consciousness screaming into his ears that the situation was about to turn bad _real_ fast. 

Kris was the first out of the others to realize, grabbing Suho who was entranced by the sight. “Is that Chanyeol? What is he trying to do?”

“No…” Xiumin breathed, watching as Chanyeol stood up shakily from Baekhyun. “Suho, take all of the boys into the lake.” 

Xiumin took off in their direction. “Hurry!” He cried out, racing towards Chanyeol. As he focused into the view, Xiumin could see that he was trying his best to back away from Baekhyun, mouth agape until he finally spoke. 

“Xiu-Xiumin! I can’t, I can’t control… Please, help!” Chanyeol sobbed, his hands running through his hair as his entire body lit up into flames. 

“GET EVERYONE INTO THE LAKE AS FAR AS YOU CAN! GO, SUHO!”

Xiumin watched as the boys evacuated into the water, keeping an eye on Chanyeol who was letting out wretched cries and bleats as the charred leaves around him burned into ash. He had to get Baekhyun out of there, but he couldn’t just leave Chanyeol.

Each wave of heat burned more than the last and Xiumin saw that Suho had run back to grab Baekhyun, taking him back to the lake as the others helped get him into the water without going under. “Xiumin! What are you waiting for?! Get out of there!” Luhan cried out, eyes frantic as Chanyeol’s screams grew louder.

Chanyeol felt awful. The fact that his shoes were scorching and melting under his feet was not helping. He watched with blurry eyes as Suho took Baekhyun away and gave Xiumin the look to follow suit, not prepared when the latter refused to leave his side.

“I’m not leaving you, Chanyeol.” Xiumin took a cautious step forward as Chanyeol took another two back, shaking his head and holding his hands out to keep Xiumin back.

“D-Don’t come any closer…” He groaned, his stomach churning as spots began to form in his vision. His eyes flashed with flaming red.

Xiumin shook his head and finally ran forward, latching his arms around Chanyeol’s heated figure and locking them. “What are you doing?! I told you t-to stay away- I-I’m dangerous!”

“Don’t say that! I’m not leaving you Chanyeol, so please…” He whispered, gripping the back of his shirt as he held his embrace. “Just let it go. Let it all go. Don’t let it all build up inside of you like that.” 

Chanyeol began to cry harder as he struggled in Xiumin’s grip, “Let go of me! I’ll hurt you too!”

“I trust you enough to know that you won’t hurt me.” 

Xiumin held onto Chanyeol for dear life, even as the frost coating his skin bubbled and fizzled away. He continued to chill himself with light layers of frost, doing his best to ignore the way his skin sizzled.

“You won’t hurt me, Chanyeol, so please…” 

Chanyeol was on the urge of kissing and cussing out his hyung, frustrated that he was being so stubborn, yet so grateful that he wasn’t alone.

“I trust you.” 

That was all it took for Chanyeol to relax, and Xiumin’s grip also softened as Chanyeol’s body calmed down. Xiumin didn’t prepare for what happened next, feeling his body being shoved back by Chanyeol’s hands before he let out a heart-breaking cry. 

Xiumin was on his butt when Chanyeol began to have his attack, writhing around on the ground as his body glowed with a light brighter than a thousand suns. He watched as Chanyeol got onto his knees and let out his final scream, balling up his fists and releasing all of the stored energy in him.

Fire rushed out from above Chanyeol and engulfed the skies, creating a vortex of spiraling flames. It circled around both him and Xiumin, but the searing pain didn’t come to Xiumin who was all but prepared for the sudden outburst, watching as the sky roared with the flames that were whirling around with the clouds. Even the boys sitting in the lake had a good view at what was happening, witnessing as Chanyeol’s light morphed into a majestic animal with wings, flapping them as its growls echoed through the air. 

The beast screeched and seemed to cry out in pain as Chanyeol fell to the ground, dissipating once his body hit the floor and stopped releasing the light. He whimpered and heaved until all the energy he had left his body.

Xiumin did his best to try and cool Chanyeol’s fiery skin, urging the others to help carry him back to the cabin to get put in a proper bed and clothes. Anyone would have thought that once the fire was gone, everything would be back to normal, but the entire scene only looks incredibly sad once the final flame is put out.

Chanyeol’s eyes were puffy and red as new tears fell over the dried ones on his cheeks. He huffed and breathed shaky breaths as he wept in his sleep, “I’ll only...hurt you…”

He was stripped of the burnt rags that hung on his limbs and placed in a room cooled to sooth the remaining of his hot skin. They made sure to place Baekhyun in a separate room in case something else was still brewing in the air, hoping for the both of them to recover quickly. Lay went back and forth between the two rooms after healing the members that were burned a little by any of the flames, focusing most of his attention on the two boys that were still passed out. 

“What were you thinking, Xiumin?” 

Heads turned to find Luhan standing in front of Xiumin, who was sitting idly on the couch. “What do you mean?”

Luhan rolled his eyes and looked at him with his blood boiling. “You know what I’m talking about! You could’ve died if you had stayed so close to Chanyeol when he was going off like that!”

It was Xiumin’s turn to roll his eyes, looking out the window towards where the smoke was still floating up into the air from the incident that had happened hours earlier.

“Well I didn’t die, so it’s fine.” 

Suho stepped forward as well, almost toppling over if it weren’t for Kris standing attentively at his side. “Thanks, Kris, but Xiumin...That was really reckless. What you did, I mean.” 

“Well, what did you want me to do? He was telling me to leave-”

“Then why didn’t you?!” Luhan cried out. Xiumin glared at him as he was interrupted.

“He was telling me to leave, _but_! His eyes were practically screaming to not leave him... I mean, how could I… I didn’t want to leave him by himself like that. You saw how miserable he was when we took him back, didn’t you? How many of you would have just left him in that kind of situation?”

Nobody dared to speak as Xiumin made his point, settling back down into the couch with a huff. 

“Chanyeol, despite the child he is, is still one of us. No matter what, I will _never_ leave him or any of you guys behind.”

“Do you really mean that?” 

Heads whipped around to find Chanyeol standing by the hallway, a blanket dragging on the ground as he kneaded it in his sweaty hands. Everyone’s eyes darted to him, but they’re silent.

“Of course, Chanyeol. And I’d never go against what I say.”

Hot tears swelled in his eyes until they fell as he staggered towards Xiumin, tripping over his own two feet and embracing him in a tight hug. 

“I w-was so scared, that I, I hurt you.” Chanyeol weeped at his legs, dripping snot all over Xiumin’s thighs, but he doesn’t mind. Instead, he runs his fingers through Chanyeol’s coarse, dark hair.

“Want to know something cool?”

Chanyeol pulled back sniffling, looking at Xiumin who had a coy grin on his face.

“When you blew up like that, not a single flame touched me. There was a wall of fire in front of me, but it didn’t even singe me to hurt me.” He lied. “I knew you could control it, Chanyeol.” 

“I… I did it?” Chanyeol gasped as Xiumin just gave him a happy grin, practically choking out more tears as he squealed in delight.

“I did it! I didn’t hurt any… one…” 

His face grew dark as he remembered Baekhyun. “Is...he awake?”

Lay stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He isn’t, but you can see him when he wakes up, okay?” 

Chanyeol nodded sadly and wandered over to Xiumin again, feeling a little happier with him giving him the attention he was craving for so long. 

“You should go back to bed so you can fully rest up. Baekhyun would be mad if you fell asleep on him again.” Chen teased. Chanyeol nods and runs back to the room, blanket wrapped around his neck. Everyone watches sadly as he disappears into the hallway, and there’s no words exchanged, but there’s a great feeling of pity that lingers on each and every one of them.

He curled up under the covers and smiled happily to himself before getting serious, making up his mind to not use his powers until he fully understood them. He wanted to get this under control before Baekhyun woke up so he could show him how cool it is and also so that they could go out and play again, just like before. 

_Just like before._


	8. Summer pt. 2

The heat  _ does  _ seem to die down, even if it’s just a little bit, and everyone finally starts to believe that everything will be okay. Chanyeol has yet to use his powers again, his fascination with fire dying down, and even the smallest flicker of a flame seems to have him uneasy. The same goes for Baekhyun; but not only does fire have him nervous- so does Park Chanyeol.

He's avoided him like the plague ever since he had awoken on the day of the incident. On some days, Chanyeol would catch him staring at his hand in deep thought. On others, he would try his best to keep eye contact with the floor whenever he was in the proximity as Baekhyun made many excuses that didn’t even sound plausible.

"I-I need to go and fold my laundry, so excuse me."

Luhan eyed him out before exhaling with a loud huff. "Well, that would've been nice like, two hours ago when we  _ were _ folding the clothes." 

Baekhyun fiddled around with the toy car in his hands, mouthing silently another excuse before dashing off. 

"What kind of excuse is watering the plants? We don't even own any plants!" Tao yelled, and Chanyeol sank into the couch, ashamed. For the older to be making petty excuses such as these just to get out of the same room as him made him cringe. 

Chanyeol watched him scurry off and sighed, eyes pitying him from around the room. No matter how hard he tried, Baekhyun refused to even look at him. Not even the leaders knew what to do. Chanyeol may be persistent and happy, but everyone has a breaking point.

“I… I’m going to the lake…” He said barely over a whisper, trudging over to the door in a daze. Nobody dared to stop him, allowing him his alone time as he stumbled into his sneakers and out the door.

The forest was quiet as Chanyeol trekked out farther away from the cottage. His steps were slow paced, but quickly picked up after hearing the sizzling of the grass under his feet. All that was left behind him was a burned trail of footsteps as his emotions spiraled out of control.

Suho watched Chanyeol walk away from the house as he looked back and forth between him and the other boys, “Should we have let him go off on his own?” He asked nervously, biting his lip as the others shrugged.

“He’s been going out there by himself for long, so I don’t see why there’s a problem.” Xiumin responded, a soft look in his eye. He had his finger pointed in the air and was drawing little shapes, watching as the frost lingering on his fingertip would make a small white trail.

“Yeah, but… Still! What if he hurts himself again?” 

Suho anxiously turned to find Kris on the side, his fists balled up as he was deep in thought. “Then we’ll just have to work hard to fix his mistake.” 

All Kris was doing was carrying pails of water from the lake over to the fire, and although he was using his powers to help, he still felt just as useless as Chanyeol who wasn’t helping. His power was flying and yet he didn’t even have the strength to carry more than two buckets at the same time, let alone when they were filled to their full capacity. 

“And practice using our powers…” Tao muttered, still shaky with his own powers as he remembered trying to freeze the fire. “I probably could’ve frozen the entire forest if I was stronger...” 

“We’ve all been practicing more lately, so it should help.” Lay placed a hand on Tao’s back assuringly, the two going into a deep conversation as the other “powerless” ones just rolled their eyes at the situation. 

“Well, I don’t think Chanyeol is practicing at all, so what if he goes out of control again?” Sehun said the question everyone hid in the back of their minds, making the room tense.

“He’s already taken out the majority of the forest by the lake…” Kai mumbled, earning a shush from Kyungsoo.

“He will, knowing him. He’s just afraid he’ll hurt someone again.” Xiumin seemed so sure it made Kyungsoo’s skin prickle.

“He’d probably end up hurting himself if he tried, or worse. He might kill himself.” 

“He what? He’s going to die?!” 

Baekhyun stumbled into the room and ran over to Xiumin who was too busy shaking his head at how Kyungsoo was laughing out of view. Xiumin gave Baekhyun a stern look before the latter sat down obediently, eyes glued to his sweaty palms that were atop his knees.

“If he doesn’t learn how to control his powers, then there’s a possibility.” 

“You guys can just go to the lake to see what he’s doing, you know.” Luhan stood up and was already slipping on his sneakers. “I mean, he’s really dense. Like,  _ really _ dense, so it’s not like he’ll catch us.”

_ “True…” _

And with the unanimous agreement, everyone ventured out together to the lake to see what Chanyeol’s been up to for the past couple days. 

Fire and water never really got along; the fact that water had the ability to smother fire made Chanyeol’s blood boil, but at the same time the possibility that fire could make water disappear made Suho anxious as ever. They were polar opposites and yet, Chanyeol finds himself drawn to the lake once again to drown in his own feelings. 

Maybe it’s because he literally almost died here at least twice, but he’s developed a sort of sensation that could only be felt in this spot, wading in the water and flinching as it rises to his knees. It bubbles at his feet and rises, his body heating up the further he walks until it just barely passes his chest.

The water boils at his blazing hands, sizzling as he watched steam emit from his fingertips. Something in his mind was screaming for him to stop, but he had ignored the ringing in his ears once he had made the decision to leave the house again. He’s only done this once and although the adrenaline coursing through his veins made him feel a whole lot better, the risks were also too great. If he had messed up even in the slightest, the possibility of setting the forest aflame again was surely inevitable. 

He let his feet roam freely below to keep his head above water, continuing on until his lungs began to ache. Now situated in the center of the lake, he let his legs kick a bit more before losing the will to keep pushing, allowing his head to finally dip under as his body sunk deeper down.

* * *

“What is he doing?” Kris muttered, squinting his eyes to see through the group of charred trees.

They all clumped together in small groups of two or three in order to stay hidden, not doing a very good job since most of the thick vegetation was burned or withered into thin stalks. Chanyeol didn’t seem to notice them as he patted along the shore, digging his shoe into the dirt and kicking rocks into the water. His constant moving around at least provided some entertainment for the others that were beginning to get bored as they constantly kept quiet, only moving to get a closer look. 

Finally, Chanyeol stopped in a particular part of the lake, sticking his foot triumphantly on to a fairly large rock on the side. It was high tide and moss laced the bottom of the rock, submerged under a layer of water.

The boy took his time to unlace his shoes, slowly undoing the laces until eventually getting the strings tangled together and having to yank his shoes off by force. He proceeded to strip out of his shirt and shorts next, making sure they were properly stowed away atop the rock before padding into the water. 

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Suho looked at Xiumin who just watched silently, nervously going back between the two as Chanyeol went deeper in.

Tao watched curiously as the water bubbled around Chanyeol’s body, “Can’t he kill himself like that? I mean… He is fire so...” 

“He would’ve been dead when he took a shower last night, so no.” Sehun yawned, wiping the sweat from his upper lip as the sun continued to shine.

“Wait, but what if he’s completely under the water?” 

Sehun lazily turned his head to see the rest of Chanyeol’s head plop under the water, leaving the lake still as if no one was there in the first place. Murmurs of uncertainty spread throughout the group, but nobody was as anxious to see the familiar mop of hair as Baekhyun, as he unconsciously moved closer to the lake with his eyes locked on where Chanyeol was last seen. His fingers dug into the charcoal burned trees as Chanyeol didn’t resurface, making him step closer and closer at the strange way the lake began to curve in on itself.

Just before his shoes were able to touch the shoreline, a geyser exploded from the center of the lake, blasting the water to the sky as a red bubble formed deep in the center. Soon after the water began to fall, another blast sent water flying everywhere, the still top of the lake becoming upset as it thrashed around. 

“What’s happening?” Kai’s voice was almost drowned out by the sizzling and bubbling. It was like the lake turned into a giant hot tub and the temperature began to rise once Chanyeol’s body managed to pull itself back to the surface. 

It would've been relieving to know that he was out of the water, but that was only if he wasn't screaming like a banshee. His cries were hoarse as the water sloshed into his mouth, partially running down his throat. 

His powers were on a rampage, fire licking out and grabbing hold of anything it could as the water around him created a layer of hot steam. The flames seemed to grow more intense as he cried out, breaking the boys’ hearts as they watched helplessly on the sidelines.

Chanyeol continued to weep until his throat felt dry, cracking on the inside, burning as his bleats grew quiet and the blazing inferno around him slowly subsided. His vision was nothing but a blur, and he couldn’t tell why. Maybe it was the lake water pushing down on his eyelids, or the hot tears that were begging to be released, but who’s to say it wasn’t both. 

He craned his neck upward and out of the water, feeling lighter as the rest of his body followed suit and bobbed on the surface. Laying back on the lake felt like he was floating and it felt so nice. As if all of his problems were lifted off his shoulders, leaving them out of sight and out of mind.

Unluckily for him, the sun was beginning to set and it was already time for him to get home. 

The closer he got to shore, the more the water seemed to cool. He carefully made his way to the rocks, wedging his bare feet between the small gaps and stumbling on the green slime. He slips his clothes back on, body still dripping in water and shakes his head roughly, damp hair splattering the ground below. 

As he ventured back up to the cottage, he couldn’t help but feel happy; sodden earth smushing between his toes as the blades of newly grown grass emerged. Although he thought that the fire had massacred the entire forest, it wasn’t entirely all gone. Just like how he was now, the forest was going through hard times, even if he dealt the damage himself. Time waited for nobody, and unless you were that one in a million exception, you had to just live with that. 

“Even the worst situations can lead to something good in the end.” Eyes turned to look at Xiumin who was already heading back to the cottage. His back view looked so comforting that others followed on instinct, all of the boys heading out except for one. 

Baekhyun feels the cool wind pick up and whip his hair in its currents. He stares at the lake and around at the charcoal trees with uneasy eyes and small shuddering breaths before he runs back after the group. Luckily, Chanyeol had been too distracted by his own needs to notice their absence, heading straight for one of the vacant rooms that occupied the house.

* * *

Suho shut off the lights as soon as he made sure that everyone was asleep- or at least as soon as everyone had their eyes closed and were tucked into bed. They had been quick to rise that morning due to the early sunrise, lounging in the muggy heat as they fought to keep their tired eyes open. 

Baekhyun was trying his best not to think about Chen’s words as they were eating dinner, forcing the thought out before he had gotten  _ too _ afraid.

_ “You know that if you say Bloody Mary in the mirror three times with the lights off, she’ll appear and kill you?” _

_ Chen’s smirk made Baekhyun roll his eyes as he stuffed his mouth with more rice. Chen was up to his usual no good antics and Baekhyun had been the lucky one to have to listen to it all through dinner.  _

_ “I did it before.” Xiumin sighed, making both Chen and Baekhyun gasp.  _

_ Xiumin twirled his fork around his fingers boredly. “Nothing happened, though. Or at least, I didn’t see anybody.” _

_ Chen’s eyes went from terrified to mischievous in an instant, turning towards Baekhyun as he leaned in real close. “You know what happens if you don’t see Bloody Mary, right?” _

_ Baekhyun felt his teeth ache as he bit down on his fork a little too hard, resisting the urge to look away as Chen spoke. “Nothing happens, because it’s not real.” _

_ A loud cackle made Baekhyun jump a little in his seat. The latter would have dropped his fork if he hadn’t been gripping the metal so hard that his knuckles turned white.  _

_ “Of course it’s real! This just means that the ghost will roam wherever Xiumin hyung called her from.”  _

_ Xiumin rolled his eyes and scoffed at Chen’s foolish words. “That means that she’d be in our house since I did that in the bathroom upstairs like, two weeks ago.” _

_ “We’ve been living with a ghost in our house for two weeks?!” Tao yelped, already starting to shake in his seat as the fear of being attacked by the supernatural creature consumed him. Suho had to shut Chen up before Tao began to cry, his high pitched voice already starting to crack and whimper as he continued to bombard Xiumin with questions about ghosts and monsters.  _

_ “Don’t worry too much about it,” Suho encouraged, rubbing small circles into Baekhyun’s back as he stared at the table in front of him, completely frozen. Chen merely giggles with delight at his horror, lights in the house flickering on and- _

“Baekhyun.”

A loud squeal rips through Baekhyun’s lungs, but a hand quickly catches his mouth before he could wake anyone up. He heaves through his nose, hands reaching out and grabbing onto the sheets.

“No, no, Baekhyun. It’s me, Chanyeol.”

Somewhat calmer but still alert, Baekhyun slowly moves his hand up to pull down Chanyeol’s. He rocks his head forward, shifting and turning to face the other. He has to squint to see the other, relying on the small amount of light the moon shone. It’s not surprising, but he’s not smiling.

“I thought we could talk,” he pauses, shifting his gaze down to his hands in his lap. “...You know, alone.”

Baekhyun looks around at the others all asleep on the floor, their light snores keeping the peacefulness throughout the room. He had decided that he wanted to sleep downstairs since a certain giant was locked away in one of the rooms upstairs for the night, managing to wedge himself between a few of the others that had fallen asleep on the ground in the main room. Taking into consideration that they might wake the others, Baekhyun nodded his head slowly and let Chanyeol lead the way. The two of them snuck upstairs and into the closet across from one of the open rooms, being careful not to awaken whoever was snoring.

In reality, the closet was actually just an extra room that nobody liked to sleep in. Everyone prefered to sleep together down in the main room or sometimes in one of the spare rooms upstairs depending on their mood and preference. The rooms were never set with names or ownership, and the boys were happy to be able to sleep wherever they wished. 

The off-white paint peeled off the walls, revealing the old wood that divided up the second floor. The ground was full of winter blankets that were too hot to be used during this time of year and stocked up with pillows, towels and any other sort of out of place furniture that nobody really wanted lying around the house. Hanging down from one of the wooden beams up in the ceiling was a single light bulb swinging on a metal chain, it being the only source of light for any visitors. 

Chanyeol walked in first and closed the door behind them, reaching up and pulling the dangling chain to give light to the room, only to have his body pushed aside as Baekhyun turned off the light. “Keep the light off. I think Suho is sleeping in the room across from this one.” He hissed, wandering over to an old russet loveseat before sitting down. Seeing that he was getting himself comfortable, Chanyeol scurried over and took a seat across from him, keeping his distance as the springs in the couch pressed against his bottom. 

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Baekhyun stated bluntly, keeping his eyes glued to the walls as Chanyeol jumped in his seat, too surprised to even get a word out from his mouth. They haven’t talked in days and Baekhyun was already ready to hightail it out of the room. Chanyeol shifted nervously in his seat to try and form a proper sentence in his head. “I’m sorry.” He looked straight at Baekhyun as the latter locked eyes with him in shock, giving him the chance to be able to see what Chanyeol really looked like after not talking to him for so long.

Chanyeol’s usual bird’s nest hair was limp and dead looking, the usual volume pressed down as it hung sadly over his eyebrows. His eyes looked heavy from the lines that curved under his lashes, not dark circles, but still making him look as though he hadn’t slept well for the past few nights or so. Even his ears seemed to shrink, reducing his large oval shaped ears to sad puppy dog ones instead. But most of all, his eyes didn’t shine and his teeth didn't glisten. Not like how they used to.

Baekhyun hated to pity Chanyeol, so he felt anger, instead.

“I don’t understand why you did what you did,” he says, clenching his teeth. “I understand that I said some things that I shouldn’t have, but I don’t understand why you would try to kill me for it.”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want to kill you, I just... I don’t know what came over me.”

_ It was always anger. _

“The hell you didn’t,” Baekhyun growled, hands placed upon his chest and shoving him away. “I nearly  _ died. _ ”

With a long pause, Chanyeol looks up at Baekhyun, eyes peering out from underneath his dark fringe. “I freaked out. That’s all I did. So why do you keep insisting that I tried to kill you? Why would I ever…”

“Because if I were in your shoes, maybe I would have.”

_ And maybe his anger came with a little bit of hatred for himself. _

Chanyeol’s face twists into distress slowly the more he shakes his head. “No,” he whispers. “Don’t say that.”

“I already did!” he snarls. He presses against Chanyeol’s chest, pushing him down. “Why are you so weak and sensitive, Chanyeol? Do you understand why I said what I said back then?!”

He doesn’t try to pry him off, but he does wince a bit at the pressure he’s putting on his chest. He shakes his head and sits up in his place, staring dead into Baekhyun’s serious eyes. “I’m sorry,” is what he gets out, but Baekhyun presses his lips together as tears begin to well up in his eyes, brimming at the corners.

“You idiot!” He cries, whacking Chanyeol with balled fists repeatedly. “You've been like this ever since we met! Do you remember those days? Stop apologizing for something that's not your fault! Stop it!”

His sobs ring throughout the room as he cries into Chanyeol’s neck, entirely oblivious to the light that shines off of said boy’s chest. Chanyeol squints at the bright flashes, lighting up and dying down while Baekhyun only continues to pour out his emotions. “Baekhyun…” he says softly, hand reaching up to the ones placed on his chest. “...You’re glowing.” 

“Sh-Shut up Chanyeol! You’re always saying stupid stuff and it doesn’t even make any sense!” Baekhyun roared, tears running down his face as he tackled Chanyeol back to the floor. The dingy light bulb flickered on and off each time Baekhyun managed to get a good hit on Chanyeol, making the latter yelp in pain as Baekhyun’s bony fists made contact with his arms and head. Chanyeol frantically tried to place his hands over Baekhyun’s mouth to smother the angry screams spewing from him, only to have his finger bitten and more of his body pummeled by the smaller boy.

“What in the world- You two! I thought I said it was time to sleep?!” Suho had practically kicked down the closet door and stomped into the room to find Baekhyun yanking on Chanyeol’s ears as his face was pushed into the carpet, face full of tears and dust bunnies. “Get your foot off him, Baekhyun!” 

Xiumin managed to arrive in time to help Suho pull the boys apart before Baekhyun ripped out all of Chanyeol’s hair. With the two of them separated, Suho thanked Xiumin for the help, the latter just nodding and plopping down in front of the two that were in  _ big _ trouble. “So, why weren’t you two asleep?” His voice was low and cut straight to the point, patience running thin as his eyelids drooped. 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked at one another, communicating with their eyes until Chanyeol managed to scoot closer to Xiumin, feeling the cold air seep through his pajamas. His lips were dry and he had to stick his tongue out to moisten them before being able to form any words. “I woke Baekhyun up because I wanted to talk to him…” 

Xiumin hummed and stood up from where he was seated, walking back to Suho before whispering his ear. Suho looked troubled and just nodded his head once in a while, the two of them keeping quiet until finally looking back at the two trouble makers. They bid their goodbyes and the extra warning to keep silent before walking out the door, shutting it on the way out and leaving Baekhyun and Chanyeol in the dark room alone.

Looking down at Baekhyun’s hands, Chanyeol hesitantly grabbed them and lifted them for the other to see. Baekhyun stared in awe as his hands glowed a bright yellow, growing lighter and darker the more he tensed and relaxed. He lifts his hand up in the air, motioning towards the light, and the glow flows out from his hand and swirls into the dangling bulb. When he wills it to disappear, it returns to his hand.

Baekhyun can’t speak. He’s too surprised to speak. He’d gone on believing this whole time that he wouldn’t have powers- that he  _ couldn’t  _ have powers, because the idea of it was incredibly unbelievable. His arms tremble as he’s lured in by the light, stitching itself across the creases in his palm, and the tips of his translucent fingers are polished with gleaming gold.

“Your eyes,” Chanyeol says slowly, “Your eyes are yellow.”

Blinking and looking up, Baekhyun searches for a mirror, squinting at a dusty antique large piece of glass that refracts his glimmering. He squints carefully, peering closer to take a better look, and it’s just as the boy had said; his eyes are  _ glowing. _

“You look like a cat…” Chanyeol mutters with a small smile, and Baekhyun shudders when he feels his large hand brush against his back. He quickly turns around and whacks it away, and Chanyeol retracts his arm with a hiss. “You stung me!” he pouted.

Curiously, Baekhyun slowly presses a finger to his arm again. Chanyeol jumps a little, rubbing his arm with a small wince. “Stop that!”

Baekhyun smiles a little, but pouts when he sees his friend raise his eyebrows. He crosses his arms and looks away, chest heaved up. “I’m still mad at you.” he says, but pauses a little when Chanyeol lowers his head. “...But, I’m sorry, too. And I forgive you.”

Chanyeol’s eyes shine again as he smiles, and scooting a bit closer to Baekhyun, they spend the rest of the night together.

* * *

“C’mon, Baek! Show them your power!”

Baekhyun sunk further into the couch, a red haze smeared across his cheeks. He’d been avoiding using his powers ever since that night.

“No…” He mopes. “It’s embarrassing...”

Chen slides in next to him, extending his arm over his shoulders. “Aw,” he chimed. “It can’t be  _ that  _ bad. Why don’t you show us?”

Everyone has their eyes on the poor boy, slowly crowding around him and pressuring him. Suho and Xiumin wipe down the dishes in the kitchen, looking at each other with smirks, but overall keeping quiet. 

“Show us already!” Tao whines, resting his head on Baekhyun’s thighs. With a long sigh, Baekhyun flexes his fingers before straining his hands and concentrating. When his hands flick upward, all the lights in the house flow out from the bulbs and gather together in Baekhyun’s dainty hands. He wiggles his fingers and shows everyone as they glow.

There’s some “Ooh’s” and “Ahh’s,” but Chen only frowns.

“You glow?” he says, a bit disappointed. “That’s it? You  _ glow? _ ”

With narrow eyes, Baekhyun stares at Chen, fingers twitching. As if on cue, everyone backs off just before he smacks Chen straight in the chest, and the outcome is amazingly unexpected.

Chen flies off the couch with an “Oof!” and slides into the far wall. Suho gasps, dropping the plate in his hands that’s miraculously saved by Tao’s time power, the latter’s eyes glowing golden. The younger sighs with relief, and when Xiumin takes the plate into his hands, he releases the time seal.

“I didn’t mean it!” Baekhyun squeaks, light returning around the house and hands up in the air. “I swear!”

“I’m okay…” Chen groans, rubbing the back of his head. “I..shouldn’t have said that, anyways…”

Sehun glares at Baekhyun when Kris hoists him up into the air like he did with Chen, letting out a small “Tch,” before leaving the room. Luhan trots out of the room following him, but no one else really notices.

Kai rests his head on the arm on the couch. “Well, now that Baekhyun has his power... “ He muses. “...There’s three of us left, right?” Kyungsoo taps his fingers on Kai’s hand, still quiet about the whole situation.

But maybe, having these powers wasn’t such a good thing.


	9. Fall

Sehun was  _ extremely  _ thankful for September. It wasn’t too hot, nor was it too cold. In fact, he felt at most ease around this time of the year, when the leaves fell from the trees in all shades of red, whipped by the cool wind to be scattered amongst the forest floor. With his joy, he usually hung around the tree in the clearing with Kai and Tao; though sometimes, he would notice Kyungsoo tag along, too.

He would be lying if he said he didn't feel left out sometimes. It irritated him a bit, but he began to feel a bit of what Chanyeol was feeling before he got his powers- a bit of jealousy. And although both Kai and Kyungsoo didn't have their powers yet, either, he kept in the back of his mind that everyone else  _ did. _

Kyungsoo liked it when it was peaceful, which is probably why he decided to hang out with the "powerless" more. Either that, or Kai dragged him along, both of which weren’t really surprising. They all talk amongst themselves as they watch Tao practice his powers on random objects, and after a year of having them, he'd really gotten the hang of it. Sometimes, Kyungsoo would notice that the days would pass by quicker, and he wondered if Tao had been practicing on everyone else as well. He decides that he's right whenever Tao would excuse himself to rest back at the house.

"When do you think we will get our powers?" Kai asks. Sehun shrugs, eyes on Tao who freezes some leaves that were tossed up in the air. His eyes, shimmering a golden hue as he turned around to face them, gloated each time the world stopped at his command. “It’ll be soon, though. I mean, knowing you two.” Kyungsoo hummed, watching the exhibition with little interest, his eyes only attracted towards the light that Tao’s eyes reflected. 

Kai nodded eagerly to whatever Kyungsoo said thereafter while Sehun just glowered quietly on the side, the both of them enviously watching as Kyungsoo praised Tao each time he managed to freeze a flock of birds above them. It wasn’t fair to Sehun that he was one of the only ones left without a power, and although Kai agreed with him, it didn’t bother him as much as it bothered Sehun. Every time Sehun would bring it up to Kai, the latter would agree, only to go off and enjoy himself with Tao or Kyungsoo when they would call for him. Maybe it was because he was closest to Kai that he began to feel a bit of jealousy. The whole thought of him being left behind made him angry, and also a little sad deep down. Luckily, he wasn’t one to be so open with his emotions like Chanyeol and Baekhyun, or else he’d have a bunch of nagging mothers on his case.

The four of them had returned back to the cottage once Tao began to get sleepy, Kyungsoo feeling the need to have him back home so that they wouldn’t have to carry him. Tao may have been one of the youngest, but it didn’t make him the lightest out of all of them.

The rest of the group sits together in a circle in the middle of the room, and when Suho takes notice of the boys who walk in, he straightens up. “Oh, we were waiting for you.” He began, patting the ground next to him. “Come and sit.”

A few members scoot out of the way to make some space, the three boys wedging in between every few people; Sehun somehow manages to sit next to Luhan, the one he’d always go to if Kai ever ignored him. Suho rubs his hands together and bites his lip before he starts talking again.

“I know it’s a little bit of a tough subject…” He says, keeping an eye on everyone’s expressions. “... But, we’re running out of food again.”

Luhan furrows his brows, already aware of what that meant. “You mean... We have to go back to town?” Suho nods at his question slowly.

“But, we haven’t been past the gate in months!” Lay pipes up, leaning forward a little on his knees. “From our last incident, don’t you think that they would still be looking for us?”

“Maybe…” Suho mutters, pointer finger pressing against his lower lip. “But I was thinking that since most of us have these powers, maybe we could…”

Everyone else stares. Never would Suho ever suggest using their powers in such situations. The fact that he  _ did  _ meant that the situation was dire; they  _ needed  _ food, and if using force is what it took, then that’s what they would do.

Sehun looks down at his hands, lightly scared from the firework accident. Suho, of course, takes note of each member and roughly comes to a conclusion. “The younger members without powers will stay back.”

Sehun feels the blood rush to his face, staring at Suho who refuses to look anybody in the eye. He balls his fists, but before he could say a word, Kai protests.

“What?!” He nearly shouts. “That’s not fair!” Sehun nods his head as Kai continues to voice his displeasure, the two of them already ready to start a war with Kyungsoo rolling his eyes in the background.

Their voices grew louder and more exasperated as time went on, the rest of the members not saying anything as the two youngest complained about the biased arrangements. Kyungsoo was quiet, but even he was a little hurt that Suho wanted him to stay back. He was one of the ones that actually helped out around the house and now, because he wasn’t gifted with some kind of supernatural gift, he was left behind.

Kris watched quietly from behind at the two that were making a scene. He personally didn’t care if they went or not, but the grief stricken look on Tao’s face made him uncomfortable, pushing him to step forward to speak. “Look, just listen to Suho because he’s probably the last one of us to go and get killed or something.” 

“But Lay is going to be there too! He can heal us if we get hurt!” Sehun shot back. Lay seemed indifferent towards the situation and nodded with whoever was speaking, making Kris roll his eyes to think that Sehun thought Lay was actually agreeing with him. 

“Don’t depend on Lay if something were to go wrong because that’s rude Sehun.” Xiumin’s words shot right through Sehun’s chest, making it feel heavy and constricted. Xiumin was usually the nicer one out of all of them and even now he was taking Suho’s side out of all of this.

The air was stale and almost dry once Suho felt the need to speak again. “Also, uh. I don’t think that Chanyeol should come with us either since, well. You know.” 

Someone in the crowd threw a small fit as Chanyeol let out a relieved sigh, turning towards the angry Baekhyun to try and calm him down before Suho changed his mind. He should have known they were going to need to go back out there after so long, but the day his powers broke loose still haunted him, terrifying him each time the memory resurfaced. 

“Well, if Chanyeol isn’t going, then I’m not going either.” Baekhyun let out with a huff, crossed arms showing his distress. 

“Well... If that’s what you want then you can stay. Lunch is ready in the kitchen for anyone that wants to eat.” 

Majority of the boys slowly had gotten up to wander into the kitchen as the smell of meat drifted in through the air, leaving Kai and Sehun defeated in their seats. Kai had a small frown on his face as he watched the others go to eat without them, while Sehun was full out seething. Before, they were allowed to pretty much do whatever they wanted, but now, it really seemed like they were living in preschool. Over time, Suho became more and more strict with them whenever they’d go to the lake or if they wanted to explore, putting a wet blanket on any of the fun plans they had in store. 

Sehun stormed off first, stomping his feet as he trudged up the stairs and into one of the vacant rooms. Kai made his move to head upstairs as well, but by the time he had snapped out of his self pity time, the door above had already slammed shut, shaking the shelves that were pressed to the walls of the cottage. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Sehun was pretty upset that he wasn’t allowed to go out, and they knew that he would be, but Suho had talked it over to Luhan the night before and the two of them came to an agreement that it would be too dangerous for the non-power affiliated boys to go. Xiumin made another side note as he strolled into the kitchen to probably leave Chanyeol at home too, still worrying for the boy after he never used his power once after the day they had followed him down to the lake. 

“He’s probably going to do something stupid tonight, you do realize that, right?”

Kai’s head snapped up at whoever’s voice was speaking, looking at Kyungsoo who had two plates of food in his hand. One plate was balanced with an assortment of rice and side dishes, while the other was strictly just rice and chicken. Kyungsoo handed the blander plate over to Kai, which the latter accepted gratefully as he glanced back over to the staircase. 

“Yeah, I know, but…” He trailed off, stuffing his mouth with a piece of chicken. The meat fell right off the bone and almost made him stop speaking altogether in order to get a better taste of his favorite food. “I can’t just leave him if he does.” 

Kyungsoo sat next to Kai, plucking a piece of kimchi off his place before offering it to Kai, who gladly ate it from his chopsticks. “I never said you had to.” 

He continued to eat more of the kimchi from his own plate as Kai pondered about what he could do. He and Sehun had been close since forever and it was obvious that he was taking this hard on himself, even if it wasn’t his fault. The mystery of the powers and why the group had been getting it was shrouded in a cloud of secrets. 

On the other side of the room, a certain boy couldn’t keep still and constantly checked the stairs in hope that Sehun would come down to eat before all the food was gone. Luhan looked down at his own plate and finally made up his mind as he treaded up the stairs, wandering over to the only room that had its door closed before knocking softly on the wood. “Sehun? Are you going to eat?” 

He waited patiently for the boy to answer, only to have his spirits crushed as a grumpy “Go away” could be heard from under the door. Biting his lip and tightening his hold on the half eaten plate, he turned away and took his own food with him, heading back downstairs with a heavy heart. It didn’t help to find Kai eagerly awaiting once he got to the bottom, only to give the younger a sad shake of his head before both of their moods descended lower than the floor. 

“It’s his problem if he’s not going to eat, so don’t beat yourself up over it.” Kris muttered, stuffing his face with the last chicken wing as Luhan just made his way back to his seat.

Once everyone finished what was on their plates, they all tossed away their trash before Suho called them into the kitchen to discuss what the plan was for tonight. Luhan was currently washing the dishes as Kyungsoo dried them, the two working together as the group began to crowd into the kitchen. Seeing that this was his cue, Kai began to slowly walk back into the main room where Baekhyun and Chanyeol were currently playing a card game, hoping that the two older boys wouldn’t push him away again just because he was younger than them. Xiumin saw his sad backside begin to wander off before calling him from the kitchen. “Hey Kai!” 

“Y-Yeah?” He managed to croak out, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. He was strong willed, but it didn’t help that he was currently alone. 

“You can stay in here if you want. I mean, just because you’re not going doesn’t mean that you can’t stay here.” 

_ “Leave it to Xiumin hyung to save me.”  _ He thought to himself, gladly taking a seat atop the counter to listen in as they spoke. 

Taking a small headcount and making sure that the people doing dishes could hear him, Xiumin began to speak. “Alright, so, here’s the plan…”

* * *

Sehun huffed and held onto his stomach as it growled for the nth time that night, making him unable to get any sleep after locking himself in the room upstairs. Judging by the amount of noise coming from downstairs, it was safe to say that the others had already gone out or were already fast asleep. Using extra precaution when opening the door, he cringes as the old metal creaks, echoing through the hallway and down the stairwell. Treading as silently as he could, he manages to get downstairs and into the main room to find the remaining four boys sleeping. Chanyeol had his legs strewn over Baekhyun’s sleeping body as the latter was curled tightly into a ball. Sehun squinted through the darkness to find Kai and Kyungso bundled together sound asleep, Kyungsoo’s body tucked away in Kai’s chest as their legs tangled together. 

Resisting the urge to gag and possibly wake up all four boys, he crawled over between Kai and Chanyeol to pry Kai off Kyungsoo, almost letting out a scream as Chanyeol latched onto his body. Chanyeol’s chest was pressed flush against his back and the heat was making him irritable as he became careless when trying to wake up Kai. Finally managing to untangle their legs, he elbowed Chanyeol in his stomach before proceeding to drag Kai out by his legs, digging his nails into Kai’s ankles in hopes that he’d wake up faster. Kai was already beginning to stir by the time Sehun had managed to yank him into the kitchen, his head accidentally bumping against one of the chair legs as he pulled him in.

Before Kai could yell, Sehun clamped his mouth with a hand. “Be quiet! It’s just me.” He hissed, keeping Kai’s mouth shut until he stopped flailing around. 

“Sehun? What are you doing?” Kai glanced around the room in search of a clock, coming up short as his hand went up to hold the back of his head, “And why does my head hurt?” 

Sehun hushed him and moved over so that Kai could sit up properly, plopping down onto the cold tile as he began to wake up. “We’re going to go out on a run.”

Kai’s eyes squinted as he adjusted to the darkness, stretching his stiff limbs. “Suho and the rest of the hyungs have already left.” 

Letting out a huff, Sehun bit back the irritation building inside of him to explain the plan that he had thought of while isolating himself in the room when everyone was away. The first stage of the plan was to wait for the team that went out on a run to finally leave, which meant that it was already complete. The next part of his plan was for him and Kai to sneak out while they were away to steal some things, coming back before the main group had gotten back home with their own spoils. 

“Wait, you want us to go out, steal stuff, and come back  _ without _ the rest of them knowing? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of going out in the first place?”

If Kai could see in the dark, he would’ve been able to see Sehun roll his eyes, “I was getting there, so if you don’t mind shutting up for a second...”

After they had gotten back home, the two of them would show off the stuff they had gotten and would just say it was what they took on the run before, proving to Suho that they were good enough to go out on runs even without any fancy powers. Kai seemed a little more swayed once Sehun finished explaining, but there was one thing that still had him puzzled. 

“How are you supposed to know when they come back though?” 

Sehun froze with his body upright, pausing for a moment before slowly starting to relax again. “Well, I was hoping you knew since you were downstairs most of the time.” He said meekly, voice getting softer at the end. 

Kai sighed and tried to remember what Suho was talking about when he was in the kitchen. It would’ve been easier if Kyungsoo hadn’t been feeding him cookies at the time, but they were freshly baked and he didn’t want to miss out on that.

_ “Okay, we’re going to start heading out at around 8:30, so everyone should be ready around then.”  _

_ Kyungsoo stopped what he was doing to intervene in their chat, “What time are you guys going to be back?” _

_ Taking another look at his schedule, Suho managed to take out the time it would take for them to go there and be finished with business before speaking, “Maybe around midnight? It depends, really.”  _

“And I think they left later than expected because some of them ended up falling asleep or something.” Kai finished up.

Sehun was quick to run into the living room in search of something that would show what time it would be, rummaging through the other boys’ things before grabbing hold of a glow in the dark pororo watch from underneath some folded laundry. The watch read 9:47, meaning that Suho and the rest of them didn’t leave that long ago, giving Sehun and Kai the upper hand.

“Do you really think this will work?”

Sehun waved Kai off and began to search for his backpack. “It will, trust me. They’re a big group anyways, so it’s not like they’ll be able to get things done quickly.” He continued to try and find a somewhat identical sized bag for Kai before he was stopped by Kai, who was grabbing at his hands.

“What are you doing Kai? Get your bag so we can leave already!”

“That’s not me!” The latter cried out, making Sehun slow down until the pair of hands slapped his shoulders. 

The hands traveled down to his own hands before the watch he had found was swiped away, the other fiddling around with the strap until pressing one of the side buttons. A faint face was brightened from the greenish light, and both Kai and Sehun let out soundless screams as Kyungsoo’s tired face glowered back at them.

“K-Kyungsoo hyung!” Kai wheezed, having backed away far into one of the cabinets on the far end of the kitchen.

Sehun was trying his best not to let his bladder explode as Kyungsoo managed to clip his watch onto his wrist. “You two need to be more quiet. You’re lucky it was only Chanyeol and Baekhyun asleep. The whole house would be awake if all the others were here. Seriously...” He mumbled to no one in particular, resisting the urge to yawn as Kai and Sehun tried composing themselves.

Baekhyun’s soft whimpers flowed into the kitchen from the main room as everything else was silent. Kai couldn’t help but stutter on his words each time he tried to talk. Sehun felt the dread build up in his chest, but as quickly as the terror built up, an idea managed to form in his head.

“Hyung, uh… Do you want to come with us?” 

Kyungsoo’s scoff echoed through the kitchen, but Sehun knew better than to assume things with Kyungsoo. This hyung was honestly really bipolar and although generally he was a nice person, the kid was full of surprises. “You really think I’d just let you two go off when I’m supposed to be watching you guys?” 

It wasn’t a yes, but it technically wasn’t a no, either, and Kai gasped with delight knowing that there would be a third person to go on such a troublesome adventure. It wasn’t really that much of a pain as he let on, but it would be if they had gotten caught. Luckily, Kyungsoo was one of the smarter ones out of the group and would make an excellent addition to the team.

“What about Chanyeol and Baekhyun though?” The three of them turned to see the two fast asleep, snuggling under the blankets as the chilly fall air blew into the cottage.

“It’s easier to deal with a sleeping Chanyeol than two others that are going out to do something reckless, so let’s just get this over with.”

Wandering over to the kitchen, Kyungsoo reached under the sink and brought out three flashlights, turning one of them on whilst giving the other two to Kai and Sehun. He then wandered off with his own flashlight in search of something in the pile of clothes, leaving the two alone with their flashlights. Sehun managed to find the switch to turn his on and almost shone the beam into the main room where Baekhyun and Chanyeol were, quickly directing his light elsewhere, and that being where Kyungsoo was standing as he looked for a pair of pants. His bright blue boxers glowed brightly as Sehun teasingly waved his light over the cartoon character printed right on the back. Kyungsoo didn’t seem to mind, but Kai covered his face as if what he was seeing was indecent, only removing them once Kyungsoo had told them to start heading out.

Sehun led the way as Kai and Kyungsoo followed not far behind, the three of them hurrying to get to the city before the main group had gone back. It was hard, too, since there was the chance that they would end up meeting as they went in opposite directions, but Sehun was smart enough to pick a different route from their usual one. Instead of following the path through the grassy field down to the main entrance of the city, they took a detour and forced their way through a blocked off part of what seemed to be a shipyard.

The group of boys stealthily made their way through the stacks of steel crates and containers, being careful to avoid any sort of light that wasn’t coming from their own flashlights. It took them a bit longer to get to the familiar parts of the city, but once they rounded the corner and snuck past a couple of guards on duty, they found a familiar path, lined with stores and food establishments stretching all the way down the street. 

“So where are we headed to first?” Kyungsoo looked around at all of the closed stores and already began to eye out one of the nearby toy stores down the block, the window jam packed with knick knacks and useless junk that he was somehow drawn to.

Kai pointed towards a huge statue of  Colonel Harland Sanders, dropping his jaw in awe of the fifty foot statue as he began to wander over towards it. He didn’t get very far once Sehun’s stomach managed to gurgle, interrupting the calm night air with strange noises.

“I guess we go to eat somewhere first?” Sehun nodded his head and already began to wander off in search of something to eat, leaving Kyungsoo to pull along Kai who was more than unwilling to part from his idol.

They strolled down the streets until coming across an open food stand hidden under a tent about a couple blocks away, slinking towards the unmanned station as their mouths watered from the smell of ddeokboki and odeng wafting their way. There wasn’t a guard in sight and by the time they reached their target, Sehun was stuffing his face full of spicy rice cakes, his cheeks filling happily as the spicy mix cleared his sinuses. Kyungsoo and Kai both began to eat as well, but not as ferociously as Sehun, the two of them sharing honey cakes with one another.

Sehun was washing his throat down with some of the soup from the fish cakes when he saw something hidden behind the flap of the tent, sneaking up on it while Kai and Kyungsoo continued to feed one another. Peering around the tent, Sehun almost choked when seeing two officers watching the tent silently, their backs turned slightly towards one another as they spoke too quietly for him to hear. It startled them once he saw actual guards out on duty while they were distracted, but it was even more alarming that they weren’t doing anything except watching them. 

“Guys, there are guards watching us.” Sehun said under his breath, pretending to eat another skewer of meat as Kyungsoo spit out the piece of blood sausage in his mouth. “We need to leave, now.” 

“No, wait!” Sehun hissed, almost making Kai drop the piece of bread in his hands. “Don’t make it so obvious and continue to eat. They’ve been watching us for a while, but they’re just watching us.” Sehun plucked a piece of chicken off from the stick in his hand and pushed it into Kai’s mouth, trying to calm the boy that looked like he was about to cry. 

“We run on the count of three, okay? One… Two… Now!”

All three boys abandon the food in their hands and duck under the flaps of the tent, dashing away from the food stand with the guards in hot pursuit. 

“You could have at least, at least said three.” Kyungsoo huffed, trying his best to push down any trash cans to shake off the officers. 

* * *

They ran past the stores and backtracked the way they came, leading them back to the shipyard and into the maze of crates. Anxiety built up in the three as all they heard past their breathless pants were shouting and running, and it was no longer two guards chasing them, but rather a whole team. Sehun’s never noticed it before, but looking closer at the details, he could see the real danger- as soon as the boys stepped foot past the gates and into the town, they were already trapped.

Military posts and guards were scattered all over town, marching and looking back and forth between every nook and cranny in search of something; or rather,  _ someone. _ Security booths replaced every entrance, security cameras decorated the corners of the stores, and Sehun wouldn’t be surprised if the town had evacuated by now.

There was no time to stop running. The second they stopped, they would get caught. The fear built up in Sehun’s throat, and he choked under the tears that poured out into the air as drained gasps for air. Gunfire filled the atmosphere with smoke, whipping past his ears and sending deathly threats with each shot he heard. He lets his eyes wander to Kyungsoo, and he’s surprised to find an expression he wouldn’t normally have on his face, but Kyungsoo looks so much in pain as his hair sways and sticks to the sweat on his face. When he looks at Kai, he looks like he’s in a similar condition, but there’s something about him that makes Sehun uneasy.

It’s a bit hard to see, but Kai’s eyes flutter between a chocolaty brown to pitch black. He huffs heavily, panicking as they run, but he literally looks like he’s about to faint. He closes his eyes tightly, bites his lip nearly enough to draw blood, and that’s when Sehun notices the dark aura that seems to surround his being. 

Then, he’s gone. Sehun can only gasp in horror, as his eyes scan around in hopes of finding him again, but he’s nowhere to be found. He looks back to Kyungsoo, who thankfully, is still there.

“He- He’s gone!” Sehun manages to shout as they make a sharp turn. 

“What do you mean he’s gone?!” Kyungsoo shouts back, but before they know it, they’re at a dead end. The edge of the shipyard stops at a dark sea, and Kyungsoo and Sehun are completely surrounded by dozens of soldiers, pointing guns and holding up large, plastic shields.

“Careful, men! These boys wield dark magic.”

Sehun violently shakes his head, but it probably doesn’t look like much because his whole  _ body  _ is trembling. The two scoot closer to each other, knees slightly bent and ready for action despite the weight that digs their feet into the cement.

The pressure was horrible. This was  _ nothing  _ like the supermarket incident. This was on a completely different level. They were greatly outnumbered, a good number of lights shone on their inanimate beings, and through the terror running through Sehun’s veins, he hopes. He wishes. He really prays this time, muttering to himself and glancing down at his clammy hands because he doesn’t  _ want  _ the help- he  _ needs  _ it.

* * *

Suho already knew something was wrong once they had gotten back from their shoplifting spree, feeling uneasy from the unlocked door that he had made sure to lock on the way out. It could have been just a mistake and he had forgotten, but seeing only Chanyeol and Baekhyun asleep in the main room had confirmed his suspicions. Luhan was thinking the same thing as he sprinted up the stairs, leaving the rest of the group to unpack and wait. The other three could have gone upstairs to sleep once they had gone, but Kyungsoo and Kai had fallen asleep downstairs while Sehun was moping around in one of the rooms upstairs, leaving him with one conclusion.

“Hey guys, wake up!” Suho tried not to wake them too roughly, but the anxiety was eating away at his sanity, growing irritated as the two just rolled around in their half asleep states. 

“They’re not there.” Luhan grew alarmed by the vacant rooms and even checked twice before confirming that Sehun, Kai and Kyungsoo were no longer home. 

Baekhyun got up first and stretched his arms up in the air before swatting Chanyeol’s limbs off of his own, becoming stifled by the heat that was beginning to make him uncomfortable. “What the heck? What’s going on?” His voice was hoarse, but nevertheless ended up waking up Chanyeol as well, who sat up with his eyes still shut.

“Where’s the other three?” Xiumin spoke up, his frost slowly dropping the temperature in the room as Chanyeol and Baekhyun both pointed in the empty spaces next to them.

“Whaaa- They’re not here?” Chanyeol patted his hands down on the empty space that Kyungsoo once occupied, his mouth curving into a frown as his palms rubbed across the cold futon. 

Taking a deep breath, Xiumin knelt down on one knee and looked at both of them with his lips pursed, trying hard not to let his emotions lash out. “Did you see where they went?”

The two boys shook their heads, both fully awake now that the situation was getting serious. The rest of the boys had finished up putting away any perishable items to find the older ones in a state of panic, their faces sweating nervously at what could have happened to the boys. The whole purpose of leaving those specific three at home was to prevent them from getting hurt, their little plan throwing everyone and  _ everything _ off.

Xiumin was first to act and began to head back to the door, forcing his feet into his shoes before Suho managed to stop him. Whatever they were arguing about didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the boys, each and every one of them leaning in to try and decipher what was going down. 

“I’m going, Suho, and you shouldn’t stop me.” 

Suho’s fingers curled unnaturally as he let out what seemed to be a cross between a whine and a groan, finally giving in. “Okay fine, but we’re  _ all _ going.” Xiumin didn’t seem to have a problem as he stood waiting by the door. They would have left if Chanyeol and Baekhyun were properly dressed; but alas, the two struggled to get into a decent pair of clothes before trekking out into the city in search of the other three missing brothers. 

Chanyeol was trying his best to tie his shoes while Baekhyun waited next to Xiumin, his foot tapping impatiently on the floor as Chanyeol seemed to take all the time in the world. He managed to loop the laces together, but knotted them in the wrong places, ultimately having him end up shoving everything into the shoe before jamming his foot in, all ready to go. Xiumin was the last one to leave, and he was about to close the door when he heard something fall inside the cottage, calling out to Suho to wait as he checked it out. 

It would have been easier to open the door if something hadn't been blocking it, ultimately making Xiumin force the door open to find a giant metal beam laying in their living room. He was puzzled for sure, not really understanding until Kai popped in out of nowhere with a poof of dark dust, his body somewhat levitating in the air before crashing down on top of the beam. 

“Kai!” Xiumin ran over to the latter and rubbed circles on his back, applying a bit of chill to his hands to try and stop the boy from hyperventilating. Kai had managed to land on his back, the edge of the beam hitting hard against his right shoulder and part of his head from the impact. “Guys, Kai is hurt!” 

Baekhyun’s head popped in through the door frame first, unsure of what Xiumin was saying until seeing the mess that they were in. He ran back to the rest of the group and managed to haul Lay into the cottage to heal Kai, who was sputtering nonsense on the ground as he held his aching head, breathing erratically as his lungs gasped for air.

“K-Kyungsoo and Sehun- they… Oh my god, I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t… It’s hurting me- I didn’t know!” His words were jumbled up as he managed to gargle out incomplete sentences, his eyes pooling with tears and sweat that was dripping from his head. Xiumin did his best to shush the boy, applying cool pressure on his feverish forehead while Lay did his thing and tried to not press too hard on Kai’s injuries. He continued to bleat and cry out until Lay finished, he himself ending up with a ring of sweat lining his upper lip and nose.

“Kai, Kai! You need to calm down. Take a deep breath, that’s right. In and out, in and out.” Kris stepped in next to try and get a grip on Kai who was too busy crying about what had gone on while he was away. 

His breathing was uneven and the occasional hiccup interrupted his small whines. Once he managed to control his voice, he looked up at Suho with sad eyes, “I’m s-so sorry Suho hyung. I didn’t know it would happen, a-and it’s all my fault…”

Going down to Kai’s level, Suho pulled Kai into a hug and hushed him, his heart shattering as Kai’s body shivered in his hold. “It’s alright Kai, just tell us what happened.”

Pulling away from the younger, Kai sniffed away the mucus trying to run down his lip, looking around for a moment before jumping back onto his feet. He wobbled for a moment before dragging himself over to the door, almost walking out if Kris hadn’t grabbed him by his shoulder.

“Stop, Kris! Sehun and Kyungsoo are in trouble!” Kai tried pushing Kris’ hand away, only to have him grab him with both hands to firmly keep him in place. “I need to go and save them!”

Kris cringed as Kai’s nails scratched at his forearms. “Damn it, Kai, hold still and just tell us what happened.” 

“I’ll tell you on the way, but we need to go  _ now _ .” 

After relaying what had happened while the others were gone, Kai felt a lot better now that he wasn’t keeping secrets, the weight from his shoulders only moving a bit towards his chest as it constricted from the thought of anything bad happening to Sehun and Kyungsoo.

Kai was pushing onwards despite the way that his stomach felt like it was caving in on itself, the nausea almost making him pass out if it weren’t for a high pitched ringing in his ears. He had felt the pain earlier before he had teleported out from the shipyard, but the shrill, almost screeching like reverberation were making his knees go weak, even if he wasn’t there anymore.

Anything related to such an eerie noise made Kai worried for what was happening back in the city, allowing him to use up more energy to rush back before something had made a permanent change to their lives.


	10. Fall pt. 2

“Come on!” Sehun grunts, curling and uncurling his fingers. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

He wonders where Kai went. He wonders how everybody else was doing. He wonders if Chanyeol and Baekhyun were okay, and he wonders if  _ he  _ would be okay. The nerves really get to him when he feels uneasy in his gut, and it makes the hair all over his body stand on edge. His clammy hands turn cold, his heart’s beating way too fast, and he’s getting dizzy at the sight of flashing lights before him.

Kyungsoo, too, was fighting to keep his heart from exploding, taking deep breaths to try and soothe the erratic pumping and the ringing in his ears. It worried him that Kai was suddenly missing, but since those guards didn’t say anything about capturing another boy, he hoped for the best. He glanced over at Sehun and saw how white his skin was, hands held out in front of him as they shook uncontrollably. 

“Sehun, are you okay?” Kyungsoo asks, shuffling closer to him. Sehun shakes his head.

“I… I think I’m going to be sick,” he wheezes, lurching forward and bringing an arm up. He pushes Kyungsoo back a bit, and he can feel the irritation in his eyes, but he’s not sure if it’s because of the salty sweat that beads at his eyelashes or not.

His mind races, and the weight of being completely useless takes over. He was the youngest and considered the “most fragile” out of all of the boys, leaving him to be babied by the older boys, especially Suho who watched him like a hawk. It was true that he was the youngest and that he was powerless. It repeats in his head over and over again, crushing him, but he’s not sad about it. Instead, there’s a sudden kick of anger, and when he feels his gut pull back painfully, he screams.

Wind. Strong, angry gushes of wind pour out from around him, hissing in Kyungsoo’s ears and lashing into a giant vortex. And even though there’s bullets shooting at the two from every direction, they still get caught in the cyclone and shoot back towards the perpetrators instead.

Sehun’s fingers reach up in the air before he faces his palms outward, arms at one-eighty degree angles. With a big motion, he moves them in front of him and kneels at the ground, the wind pushing everyone back at such a great force that some of their bodies crack when they come in contact with the metal crates. Kyungsoo has to clench to the back of Sehun’s shirt just to stay within the safety zone in the middle of everything. He could only watch through the screen of raging wind, seeing bodies fly like ragdolls with every flick of Sehun’s wrists.

The more people come, the more Sehun unleashes his power, and although he’s grateful, he’s also scared for a new reason; he’s scared that he won’t be able to control it. It was as if he were trying to hold a boulder up with a thin piece of string, the weight yanking down hard on his body as he struggled to keep the heavy weight up. Luckily, the numbers seem to die down as he runs out of energy, panting and coughing and possibly puking onto the ground. But there’s no time to wait around.

Kyungsoo grabs Sehun’s arm and runs. It’s a lot less panicky, but they don’t want to risk anything. Eventually, they lose track of the soldiers and Sehun drops to the ground.

“You…” Kyungsoo panted. “...You did it. You saved us.”

Sehun lets out a jittery laugh, but he’s still too shaken up to talk. They take the time to calm down, and Kyungsoo rests against one of the cold crates.

“I wonder when the others… Will find us…” He wonders aloud, ridding the sweat on his face with the sleeve of his jacket. Sehun nods.

Just when all seems to go well, Sehun doesn’t notice the loud creaking from above, and there’s no time to react before he’s shoved out of the way and a large metal beam is plummeting down, straight for Kyungsoo. The crash rang through everyone’s ears as dust puffed up into the night air, creating a thick smoke screen around them. 

Shaking off the pain etching through his scraped elbows and battered knees, Sehun can only stare at the pile of beams and bars that cover Kyungsoo’s fragile body.

* * *

“Over there! I think I…”

Kai stops in his tracks, everyone in perfect view of Sehun and Kyungsoo, the two of them somehow managing to smile even during such a time. The fact that they were okay made him relieved, almost bringing a smile to his own face before he feels it all crash down on him. There’s a moment of shock that jolts through his body, and he’s completely frozen. The metal beam crashes against the floor with a deathly boom, and after the longest minute of silence, Kai is screaming so hard that his throat sears with bloody pain. But that doesn’t matter, because by the time he teleports over to the beams, it’s already too late.

The others come running in, grasping the edges of the beam and trying their best to haul it upwards to no avail. Kai’s muttering Kyungsoo’s name over and over again, in tears as the others are too shocked to even speak. The fear fills them up until a few break down as well, wheezing and freaking out. The older ones tried their best to keep calm and get the beams off of Kyungsoo, but there isn’t much a bunch of kids can do in this situation.

Not even Luhan can move the beam with his powers, and after minutes of trying to move the bulky piece of metal, everyone slumps over in defeat. Kai’s knuckles scrape against the floor after numerous attempts to lift the damned thing, but his tears begin to pool at his collar bones as he gives up.

“I- I can’t do it!” He sobs. “I can’t teleport with the beam! I- If I hadn’t left, this wouldn’t have happened- Hyung- Kyung- Kyungsoo is dead because of  _ me! _ ” He cries into the palms of his hands

“C-Can’t you do something?!” Baekhyun shouts at Tao, but the younger is too scared to even move, his jaw slightly ajar as the tears raced down his face. 

“This wasn’t supposed to happen… No, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” Tao mutters angrily to himself, his body shaking as he glares at the beams. Baekhyun notices his eyes flashing yellow, but it’s too quick to be anything noteworthy.

Losing hope wasn’t something that he was known for and Luhan managed to stand up again with his legs firmly planted on the ground, his stance low as he tried to force the beams up, only letting out a horrid hack as his lungs gave out. The thinner beam moved, but only a few centimeters at a time, even one of the smaller metal beams proved to be too much for the young boy. He didn’t give up though, willing the topmost beam away as it toppled off the side of the pile and onto the dirt ground below. As the heavy metal clattered off the pile, he too fell and gasped out for air as the exhaustion caught up with him, rendering him and his powers useless at the moment. 

Wiping his wet hands on his pants, Kai peers under the metal and searches past his blurry eyes. He searched desperately for a way in, or at least  _ some _ kind of way to help Kyungsoo break free, feeling the anger build up as Kyungsoo’s wheezes could be heard from under the mess. 

“Kyungsoo hyung, don’t worry… I’ll… I’ll get you out somehow, I know I will…” Kai muttered to reassure himself as he tried yanking out one of the metal bars, the smallest of the pipes making him exert his energy to the point where the skin on his palms began to feel as though they were ripping off. 

Noticing how that wasn’t going to work, he grabbed another one of the pipes and stuck it under a beam closest to Kyungsoo’s body, using his weight to push the pile upwards as he practically hung from the end of the pole. 

“There they are! Quickly dispose of them before they use their magic again.” 

The boys all spun around to find more men rushing towards them, enclosing them in a ring of fire power and men in police vests. The officers all took aim and were prepared to shoot upon command, almost hurting the boys if Sehun hadn’t stepped in first, using his rage to summon up whirlwinds to stall time. The dread he had felt was long gone after the rest of the boys had arrived and was replaced with hatred for the men in uniform, his anger fueling his source of power. If he hadn’t paid more attention to his surroundings, then they could have been home free and not in this situation. Sehun forced himself to stay conscious, as there was nothing left to puke out from his system anyways.

Kai took advantage of the wind gusts to try again with his approach on freeing Kyungsoo, jerking against the metal pole until he could feel it slowly easing up, his feet being able to touch the ground as the beams began to rise up. 

Rising beams put aside, Kai only watched astonishedly as a hand rose from in between the pile of heavy metal, followed by a head and then a battered body amidst the rubble. It looked as though Kyungsoo had died and was being reincarnated into a new form, body covered in rust and blood as his irises bloomed with a golden, earth-like color. Seeing that they were outnumbered and in a bad situation, Kyungsoo stepped out from the pile of beams with ease, taking another look around before tossing one of the smaller beams into Sehun’s storm. The metal was carried off by the whirlwind until colliding into four of the guards nearest to his side, their screams drowned out as Sehun’s winds whipped around in the air.

Grabbing both Kai and Sehun by their wrists, Kyungsoo managed to lug them over towards where the guards had gone down, scurrying through the entrance with the others in hot pursuit. His ragged breaths slowly became shallow as he tried to get away, ultimately giving out after trying to make his escape, his body dropping into the two boys’ arms as they panicked and struggled to hold him up. 

Before they could have been slowed down or caught, Kris swooped in and took Kyungsoo onto his back before flying off, yelling for them to hurry up before they were caught again. He jetted through the watchtowers and narrowly escaped being shot at by any of the guards, the weight on his shoulders dragging him down as he forced himself to stay afloat. They managed to make it to the clearing before the constant drum of gunshots finally stopped and nobody else was chasing them, the boys not even turning back to see that Tao had frozen time for them to get away.

Kris and Kyungsoo crash onto the ground as soon as they made it back to the cottage, their bodies rolling around in the dirt as the others used the last of their energy to haul them in the house. Nobody dared to question the giant metal beam still lying in the main room, walking around it in order to collapse onto the sofa or any of the futons. 

After barely escaping the crisis, all the members want to do is sleep. Sleep to forget about their miserable day and what would come of tomorrow if they had been found or even caught. Kyungsoo was curled up in the corner of the room as he shivered from how cold the blood was becoming on his forehead, the liquid becoming dry and crusty against his pale skin. Before he let the darkness consume his consciousness, something had lightly tapped his shoulder before drilling in through the skin, the pain going deep inside the flesh and jolting throughout his entire body.

The rest of the boys cringed as screams and loud crackling filled the air, some going to try and comfort Kyungsoo while others covered their ears, mortified by the amount of pain he was in. Lay tried his best to make healing him be as painless as possible, but the way that his bones were crushed under the beams made it impossible for him to fix unless he had put all of the pieces back to their original form. Being that he was the only one to truly be able to see what was going on with Kyungsoo, he kept his hands steady as he pressed against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. 

The cartilage in Kyungsoo’s arm began to reform together smoothly until each of the chunks mashed together to go back to normal, which took a lot of energy to do since Lay has never tried to mend broken bones. Broken didn’t even seem to describe what was happening with Kyungsoo though, the bones actually somehow just shattered, floating around in the excess blood like thin pieces of glass.

This process went on for about two hours as Lay pushed himself to the limit to pop Kyungsoo’s knee back in place and fix any internal bleeding. His ribs had been crushed and were jammed right against some of his internal organs, the points almost piercing through them if he had been hurt any more. He didn’t say this and neither did the others, but being crushed under over a hundred pounds of metal should have probably  _ killed _ Kyungsoo. He would have just been a cold body under rusty metal if it weren’t for his remarkable strength, appearing at just the right time and miraculously saving him.

Everyone feels incredibly bad and awkward, standing around as he screams and groans in pain. Lay finishes with one more surge of energy, collapsing onto the floor with shaky arms and a pained gasp.

Kyungsoo’s huffs and whimpers are silenced within minutes, but his face still twists while his bones ache and heart beats furiously. As he pulled himself up against the wall, he made a face of disgust at how scratchy his throat had become, almost standing up to go grab some water until a steaming mug was held in front of his face.

Suho had gone into the kitchen to prepare some tea for Kyungsoo to try and sooth his body after all that screaming and practically near-death experience. The boy watched the steam float up from the cup and hesitated before taking it, his body relaxing a bit more as the cup warmed up his hands. Taking a whiff of the barley tea, he put his lips close to the rim and blew gently across the top. 

“Here, let me.” Xiumin knelt down next to Kyungsoo and pressed a single finger to the side, only letting it tap the mug before allowing his powers to kick in.

Kyungsoo didn’t like drinking hot things ever since he was young. He was worried that he would possibly burn his tongue or spill the scalding liquid onto his skin. It made him feel at ease knowing that Xiumin remembered even after so long, taking a sip of his lukewarm tea with a small smile.

Meanwhile, as Kyungsoo rested with a calmer state of mind, Sehun was isolating himself on the far edge of the futon, his body hidden under the majority of the blanket as it shook and sputtered. There was nothing physically wrong with him, or so he thought, but the desire to release another gust of wind out made him jittery and almost anxious. It wasn’t the right place and time, yet his mind was screaming for him to do  _ something _ instead of just waiting for his body to sleep. 

“Hey, get up.” 

Sehun ignored the hand shaking him out of his place, closing his eyes to try and bite back the string of curse words building on the tip of his tongue, “Go away.” Chanyeol frowned and continued to bother Sehun until he finally complied, glaring so much that Chanyeol almost forgot what he was doing.

He knew what Sehun was feeling. The constant shaking of his leg and the anxious looks he would give the others, oh Chanyeol knew it  _ very _ well. It was the same after he had gotten his powers even despite the terror that had come along with it. He had found a way to expel the excess energy he had been storing away, but the question here was, did Sehun?

Turning around to make sure the others weren’t aware of what he was doing, he pressed a finger to his own lips before speaking low, “come with me outside.”

Sehun was irritated and tired and he decided that whatever Chanyeol was doing was either going to piss him off more or completely make him blow his top. The two of them snuck out while the others were asleep and/or fussing over Kyungsoo, Sehun giving them one last look before scoffing and following Chanyeol towards the forest. He noted how careful Chanyeol was while they walked, catching how he avoided any of the plant life that was beginning to grow back from what happened over the summer. 

Weaving through the trees, they kept walking until arriving at the lake, the still water rippling as Chanyeol tossed a rock in. Sehun watched as Chanyeol continued to skip rocks, feeling neglected as he cheered for himself each time the rock went farther than the last. It was bad enough that nobody was paying attention to him back at home, and he didn’t need this either, turning away to head back.

“W-Wait, come back!” Chanyeol turned around to grab Sehun’s wrist, taking the boy back to the lake so that their shoes almost touched the water’s edge. 

“Are you sad?” Chanyeol finally managed to stutter out, speaking slowly as if he didn’t even know the answer himself. 

Sehun shut his eyes and let out a sigh, “No, why would you ask?”

Chanyeol dug his foot into the dirt, hands behind his back as he looked down at the floor. “I dunno…” He says. “You just seem kinda sad…” Sehun shakes his head and slumps, leaning from side to side.

“I feel weird,” he confesses. “I didn’t think having powers would be this… Scary.”

Sehun watched as Chanyeol agreed almost too fast, as if he were just trying to kiss up to him. Chanyeol wasn’t that indifferent towards the other’s feelings, though- he was just a little excited knowing that someone else had been feeling the same way. “It’s like you have all the power in the world, right? But if you do something wrong, then something really bad would happen, or something… But you get it, yeah?”

Suddenly, Sehun didn’t feel so alone anymore, as if by getting this new ability didn’t separate him from what he really was- just a normal kid with really good friends. He poured out more of his feelings to Chanyeol who agreed to everything wholeheartedly, insistent on having Sehun speak his true feelings. To him, this was something so new, to be able to tell someone everything and actually have them  _ listen _ . He always made an attempt to talk to Tao or Kai about the things that were on his mind, but whenever the time would come his mouth would keep shut on his own, preventing him from speaking at all. Chanyeol was always supportive of how he felt and gushed about how hard it was for him after he had gotten his powers for the first time, revealing how he had to release stress down by the lake when he was alone.

That, Sehun remembered. Seeing Chanyeol so pent up where he created such a massive explosion made him realize that he wasn’t the only one going through hard times, feeling a little guilty for being so self centered. It was the jealousy that fueled his anger and now that it was gone, the empty spot was just filled with fear and anxiety about the dangers of the situation.

“Hey, uh... Did that stress relief thing you did really help you?” Sehun asked Chanyeol, wanting to rid himself of the heavy feeling in his heart.

“It did, but you have to release everything in the middle of the lake so you don’t hurt the forest anymore. You’ll have to go for a little swim.” He could tell Chanyeol was still sad about burning the forest down. Every so often when they’d go down to the lake to play, Chanyeol sat on the side, propping up the small flowers that would be taking root when he thought no one was looking. 

Placing a hand into water, it felt warm around Sehun’s fingers, urging him to go and take a quick swim before they headed back. He stripped out from his shirt and pants, handing them over to Chanyeol before wading through the water, stopping once it had begun to splash against his chin. It wasn’t as far out as Chanyeol had gone, but Sehun didn’t want to go all the way out in case something had gone terribly wrong. 

Letting his eyes shut for a bit, he waited until the familiar feeling pooled in his stomach, letting it get stronger and stronger until it made him antsy. His skin prickled from head to toe and he continued to feel needles until his entire body flushed with a tingling sensation.

If he hadn't known any better, Chanyeol would have thought that Sehun had the power to control water and not wind. The water on the lake began to grow choppy and almost like the ocean never sat still, the lake began to crash against the shore line, fierce waves drenching the poor boy’s shoes. Currents swirled around Sehun and almost sucked him down into the water if it weren’t for his own two feet keeping him above sea level. 

Taking a step back, Chanyeol took refuge behind a nearby tree before the water in the lake had sputtered out, pellets drenching whatever was in range as the wind lashed out through the air. He could almost feel his body being thrown around by the strong air currents, squatting down behind his hiding spot before covering his head with Sehun’s clothes. 

Chanyeol figured that the wind would be strong and was semi-prepared, covering himself before he had gotten any excess debris in his eyes. Nothing he did stopped the ringing in his ears though, the shrill noise relentlessly piercing his eardrums and made his head hurt. He didn’t move from his spot and stayed crouched down even as his legs began to go numb.

It took some time before the pain in his ears began to subside, allowing him to peek an eye open to see Sehun already sprawled out on the ground by his hiding spot. 

“That was, amazing.” He breathed out, looking up as the stars glimmered in the black sky. “It feels like I was flying. Like… It was just… Amazing.” 

He continued to look up towards the sky until Chanyeol let out a small laugh, his body eventually breaking out into a fit of giggles. The way Sehun had explained it was so childish and weird, but it was exactly how he would have said it.

“You know,” Chanyeol began to speak, the words suddenly getting stuck in his throat. A frown formed on his face before he tried again. “You know, the first time I ever let my powers go like that... I burned Xiumin hyung.”

They both remembered what had happened the day that everything seemed to go wrong. How the despair was written on everyone’s face as the forest was set ablaze. With the accident burned into his memory, Sehun tried to remember, only to recall Xiumin’s back as he carried an unconscious Chanyeol back to the house. 

“He lied so that I wouldn’t feel bad. Although, it was hard to miss the way his eyebrows were practically burned off.” He let out a low chuckle, rambling on about how nice Xiumin was. 

Sehun didn’t care that he was soaking wet and naked. He just felt the overbearing need to sleep, and that’s what he did. Chanyeol had a hard time putting Sehun’s clothes back on and dragging him back afterwards, but it was especially hard to look back at the lake as he walked back to their home. All of the trees surrounding the body of water had been cut down, as if run over with a giant truck, their tall statures being chopped in half from Sehun’s power. He was a bit on edge knowing that they had just killed the forest again, but getting the younger one home was his topmost priority. 

Chanyeol had a hard time dealing with the others as a bonus for being gone for too long, he being the one to take the downfall and lectures for suddenly disappearing. 

He had told them what happened and how Sehun felt inside, their scoldings were less intense after finally figuring out what the youngest member had been bottling up after so long. Although Chanyeol had still gotten punished, it didn’t matter that he got in trouble because to him, it was more important to see Sehun feeling a little better and he was glad to help. 

His feat not only helped Sehun relax, but gave him a better state of mind knowing that what power he had wasn’t just for destruction. He wasn’t just someone that could burn things to ashes, or some kind of weird fire freak. He was Park Chanyeol, and Park Chanyeol was someone that could bring happiness to people, not pain. The idea of himself being like a superhero made him happy, and the thought ran through his mind until he finally fell asleep that night. 

The next morning would bring anything  _ but  _ happiness.


	11. No Man's Land

Tao wakes up early the next day with a nervous feeling in his gut. It’s not the normal kind of nervousness, either. Rather, he’s a bit scared, and he doesn’t know why. It just felt as though he woke up from a really long dream and now he felt sick. He glances at the window behind the couch and peeks through the closed blinds where very faint and grey light peers through. Everything is completely still and quiet, but there’s still that warning in the back of his mind that tells him to do one thing:  _ Run. _

Very hesitantly, he crawls off the couch and tiptoes over the mass of sleeping bodies until he reaches the front of the room. He leans over Suho and nudges him with his foot. When he gets nothing out of it, he crouches and shakes his shoulder, whispering, “Suho... Suho, wake up!”

Suho does indeed wake up, very groggily at that, and he has to rub his eyes and squint to get a good look at who was bothering him. When he finds only Tao, he hums questioningly, still trying to fully focus.

“I feel weird.” Tao manages to speak softly. His words have Suho sitting up straighter, eyes analyzing every inch of the younger's body.

“Are you sick?” He asks, but Tao shakes his head. “Then why do you feel weird?”

Tao blinks a few times, arms clenching his stomach anxiously. He looks around at the sleeping bodies before he looks back at Suho. “I’m nervous. I think we need to leave.  _ Soon.” _

Right as Suho stands up, there’s a chilling knock on the front door that makes him freeze in his spot. It’s a bit soft, but he’s still scared, because  _ no one knocks on the door. No one should know about this place. _

The two stand in their places for a good minute before the knock returns- only this time, it’s much more fierce and demanding. The pounds have Suho and Tao flinching, and some of the boys even shoot up from their sleep. They all exchanged nervous glances to each other before they got right into action, waking up the remaining members as quickly and quietly as possible.

There’s not enough time. The door bursts open with a kick, and everyone stares in shock at the mob of not police officers, but rather military personnel who look ready to start a war. 

“All of you! Put your hands up and don’t move.” 

The guns being pointed at them were pretty persuasive and almost everyone had their hands raised except for Luhan, his eyes still closed as he slept in the comfort of his futon. He didn’t go unnoticed by the task force, though, and one of the men walked forward to find him curling up under the blankets. He used the point of his assault rifle to nudge at Luhan’s head experimentally before the boy brushed him off, slapping the gun away to the horror of the other boys. Suho swears he nearly faints.

After a few failed tries of trying to get the boy to wake up, the man finally had lost his temper and used his foot to kick at Luhan’s back, successfully startling him as he jolted up with a yelp. The officer took a few steps back and pointed his gun right at Luhan’s face as the latter rubbed his eyes, letting out a yawn before everyone was able to see his face clearly.

The dark circles under his eyes and downward tilt of his head seemed almost demonic as the officer took another step back. “You! Stand up with your hands in the air!” His voice bellowed unnecessarily, startling Luhan whose frown creased deeper as his ears ached from the sudden boom.

“Do you know how  _ early _ it is right now?” Suho felt the lump in his throat rise as Luhan chose right now out of all times to be disobedient. He took a step forward to place a hand on his shoulder, watching as the guards followed his movements with their guns.

“Luhan, don’t be like this now...” He murmured, getting even more anxious as the boy brushed him off.

“No. I act however I want because this is  _ our _ house, not theirs. It’s because of them that we’re stuck in this mess!” Luhan kicked the blankets away from his feet and began to pace back and forth in between the boys and the task force, their guys confused as they didn’t know where to point their weapons. 

“Do you see the sky out there? No? Exactly. The sky is so dark that I can still hear people snoring outside! Do you guys even have lives? Why are you spending your time hunting us down when you could be spending time with your families? We’re just a bunch of kids!”

Luhan continued to ramble on to everyone’s dismay, but he showed no signs of stopping. “And you see that kid over there? The one that can’t even stand because he was hurt last night while YOU all were shooting at us? He was crushed by a bunch of beams from the shipyard and you’re still pointing guns at us? Are you fucking kidding me?” 

The pull in his stomach grew each time he asked a question, becoming infuriated by the fact that they were still pointing their weapons at them. “So now, you’re walking into  _ my _ house, pointing a gun at  _ my  _ face because of what exactly?” 

The officer that had made the mistake of waking Luhan shifted nervously in his place, eyes wavering as his gun began to droop down to the ground. “We had gotten reports of a bunch of dangerous kids that were shoplifting in the area and-”

“That was a rhetorical question, you moron! I didn’t ask to get my fucking powers because I wanted them, it just happened, okay? You really think that I  _ wanted _ this? That I  _ wanted  _ to be woken up at god knows what time in the morning, with a fucking gun pointed at my face, because some idiot doesn’t know  _ how to use a fucking doorbell _ ?!”

“W-Well, there wasn’t any doorbell to ring so we had to knock.” The man was practically cowering under Luhan’s wrath and the other officers behind him were just watching helplessly as their captain was getting lectured by a kid half his age. 

“What part of rhetorical do. You. Not. Understand?” Luhan had brought his hands up in front of his face as his fingers curled from how pissed he was, anger seeping out from every pore in his body. “Do you even know how much it hurts to get shot? Or burned by a fucking forest fire? Or buried under a ton of metal beams? No, because you all are too busy kissing ass to your superiors to use any common sense!” His foot slammed down against the wooden floor with every question, feeling the rage build in him until it was at its peak. “Just leave us alone!” 

His voice finally gave out as he screamed for the men to leave them be, his eyes flashing purple before all of the men let out confused gasps and garbled. Their arms shook from the amount of force being pushed towards them as Luhan’s powers broke loose. Some losing their balance and toppling over while others let out pained groans from their own weapons being used against them, tips of the assault rifles bending until they were no longer of use. Luhan was having fun as his mouth curved into an evil grin, willing his powers to take their guns to whack and beat the officers that tried their best to shield themselves from the onslaught of hits. 

“Hurry. Let’s leave before they’re occupied.” Luhan hissed under his breath, thrusting his palm forward to knock all of the men off their feet as they made their escape through the window near the kitchen. 

They had no time to pack anything, all rushing out of the house and running through the forest in hopes that the men weren’t chasing them anymore. It was hard for Luhan to keep up since his energy was used to give the military a piece of his mind, the boy barely able to keep up as he lagged behind. Kyungsoo wasn’t in any better condition as Kai and Sehun tried their best to drag him along, his arms over their shoulders as he tripped over his own two feet. 

“Kris! Take Kyungsoo and I’ll get Luhan.” Xiumin ran over to the back of the group to hoist Luhan onto his back before running again, growing anxious as Luhan’s uneven wheezes blew into his ear. 

Kris went over to where Kai and Sehun were before scooping Kyungsoo into his arms, taking off to the sky as the two watched them speed away. The both of them were disappointed that they had to have been helped again despite getting their powers, Sehun letting out hot air as Kai just dashed forward to try and follow them. 

The group kept going despite having discovered a new part of the forest, the burned portion long gone and somewhere the lake didn’t reach. As they kept running into the uncharted territory, they began to realize that they should have just taken a detour around the place, feet slowing down as their shoes sunk into the loose mud. 

_ No man’s land. _

That’s what ran through some of their minds as they tried their best to trudge through the mud that was now up to their waists. A thick fog began to form around the group, smoke screen blocking their vision if it weren’t for Sehun letting out angry huffs to push it all away. Distant cries of birds and crickets echoed overhead as the boys continued onward, pulling themselves along until arriving at the end. The minute their feet touched upon dry land, they collapsed. The trees in the area were so thick that they didn’t know what time it was and none of the boys had the time to grab a watch on the way out, too busy running for their lives. 

Kris was the first one to get back up, struggling to lift Kyungsoo in his arms as he began to hover off the ground once more. His powers had given way as they were going through the swampy area, resulting in him having to carry the boy by foot. “We need to keep moving before  _ they _ catch up.” 

Nobody complained as they got back onto their feet, limbs aching but minds more fearful of what would happen if they got caught. The older ones did their best to hurry the younger boys along as they tried their best to hold tears back, cringing every few seconds from the mud clumping in their shoes and clothes. Plodding along towards what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, Tao’s squeal made the others turn back to find him racing forwards, leaving them behind.

“Guys, I think I see a house up ahead! Come on!” He was bouncing up and down excitedly before rushing onwards, the other boys all looking at one another with confused expressions. Though exhausted, his feet seemed to move on their own. Would there really be a house in such a dreary place? 

Their suspicions were confirmed when Tao came running back, skin as pale as a sheet as he ushered everyone to go in the complete opposite direction. “T-There’s nothing that way, so we should just go somewhere else.”

“Let’s just go and see. It’s a house, right?” Chen skipped onward to see what had gotten Tao so spooked, delighted once coming across what he had seen.

The house seemed to sway the closer they got to it, the entire building threatening to topple over even from the smallest wind. It looked abandoned, which meant they could take refuge inside for now, and although the entire look of it was shady and unstable, they didn’t really have a choice. They all felt their knees begin to wobble, skin dripping in sweat from the hot muggy air. Xiumin moved first and tread up the porch steps, cautious when the wood under his feet creaked with old age. After managing to push open the door that wasn’t unlocked, he took a step in and felt his body drop as the floorboards below gave way. 

He hollered out for the others to stay put until he got the situation under control, not wanting them to fall through the floor like he had. Luckily he had stepped further into the house to fall onto his arms instead of straight downwards, wincing as the broken flooring scratched at his muddy legs and lightly punctured his hips and stomach.

“Uhh, okay, so... The flooring in here is really bad and I almost fell and I need Lay to heal me up before it gets infected. Other than that, it seems pretty...” He trailed off.

Lay had been quick to run into the house after hearing of an injury, jumping right over the hole by the entrance to stop and squint at the sight. It was still scary, if not scarier, and the lack of furniture and the way the cracks oozed haunted mist made it difficult to think otherwise. 

Letting out a sigh, Xiumin proceeded to pull off his outer shirt and began to lay it over the hole once he was all healed up. “Okay, you guys can come in, but step around my shirt because there’s a hole under there.” 

One by one they all began to flow into the house, Kyungsoo muttering under his breath about how careless Xiumin was. “Just putting something over the broken floor doesn’t really do anything...” But despite his efforts to convince Xiumin to fix the problem, the latter ignored him while squinting at something on the other end of the house.

What really made the boys confused was the lone door on the other side of the room. When Kai had jogged up to the oddly painted piece of wood, he brushed a hand across it until he found the door knob. “I think this leads somewhere?” He says questioningly, shaking and turning it slowly. Everyone piles up behind him when it starts to open, revealing stairs that lead down into a dark room.

At the bottom, Suho feels the walls for a light switch, and when he flicks it on, what he sees leaves him completely baffled.

The exterior of the place might’ve looked like a witch house, but the inside was so nicely refurbished that it was like it had been just waiting for them to arrive. There were large, leather couches big enough to easily accommodate all of them along with a kitchen and even a pool table. 

Xiumin wanders over to the pool table, and he and Kris are already beginning to challenge one another with their eyes as they set up the game. Kyungsoo says something about the whole situation being a bit creepy, but everyone just ignores his muttering.

Kai saw Kyungsoo’s irritation and brought him over towards the kitchen in hopes that he would calm down, not liking the look of displeasure plastered on his face. As Kyungsoo looked up at Kai, he couldn’t say no to his rosy cheeks as he gave a soft smile, leading the boy as he followed behind silently.

Before wandering off to explore the place, Chen stalked along the sides of the room, finding it peculiar how empty the walls were. The interior was completely redone so that it was a perfect haven for kids their age. An extravagant pool table fully decked with brand new cue sticks occupied the north wall, and the other half of the room had one of the new 3D LED tvs hooked up, cable fully functioning along with all seven hundred and forty eight channels streaming in high definition. The boy wasn’t a genius, but the fact that both appliances were covered in shiny red mahogany wood once again had him questioning why anyone  _ wouldn’t _ use some of that money to fix up the outside part of the house, or at least repaint the walls.

Looking over the entire room, he could only shake his head with distaste at how bland it made it look. The only thing that had attempted to spice up the dreary landscape was the awkwardly placed painting on the side by the kitchen. The picture was odd enough, but the two bright colored mountains looked like some kid had just splattered green and blue paint all over the canvas. Either that, or the job was done by a very abstract artist.

“Hey, Chen! You should come over here and watch tv with us!” Baekhyun called, ruining his train of thought as some cat chased a small, tricky mouse around the house.

As Kai and Sehun misused the pool cues as swords to play fight, Suho kept glancing outside the door, the fear eating away at him that they would be caught again. The situation was too dangerous for them to be staying in one spot, yet somehow they all were here in this dream house, goofing off while a bunch of men were trying to kill them. What they  _ should _ be doing is trying to get more distance between them and the men to broaden their chances of escaping together without any casualties, not playing around. He refused to do anything and just sat with his arms folded as Kyungsoo explored the kitchen, he and Lay finding the cabinets and the fridge stocked to the brim with food that could last them months. 

It was too good to be true.

Taking a glance at Kris who was too busy screaming at Xiumin to stop cheating, Suho finally began to speak his mind. “Don’t you guys think that this place is kind of weird?” 

“Uh, yeah, I mean... These Christmas cookies are only made in the winter for the holidays and yet, here they are with the expiration date still valid. Is this even possible?” Kyungsoo murmured. He ripped off the cap of the container and shook out a couple of Santa themed sugar cookies, offering one to Suho who refused him with a small grimace on his face.

“These cans are empty…” Lay mutters, tapping a few closed fruit cans on the counter. When he fiddles with the knob on the stove, it doesn’t turn. “...This stove is fake.”

When Kyungsoo opens the pantry door, he’s a bit puzzled when he finds another door within it. He looks back to Suho, eyebrows scrunched together in thought, and when the boy shuffles over to inspect the area as well, he’s no less baffled. With cautious hands, he turns the knob, and when it opens, it reveals an empty large cemented room with dimmed white lights and nothing more. When he ventures forward, he’s surprised by what he finds next.

On the wall is a large, tinted square that shows exactly what the entertainment room looks like. He sees everyone messing around, going about what they were doing before he had gone inside, and he actually has to double check the box and the other room to come to the conclusion that this is no ordinary painting; this is a one-sided window.

Beckoning everyone to the kitchen, some followed curiously while others grumbled about having to abandon what they were doing, gathering together to see Suho shoving Kyungsoo back into the cupboard to show them the secret room. Although those two knew what they were looking at, all the others could see was poor Kyungsoo getting pushed into a cabinet, stifling giggles at the funny scene.

“Uh, Suho hyung? I know Kyungsoo is small and all, but I don’t think that should be a reason for him to be playing around in there.” Chen let out a small laugh before Kyungsoo pushed himself out to whip around and glare at him. 

Before Chen could take a step back, Kyungsoo stomped up to him and grabbed him like a dog, pinching the scruff of his neck before dragging him over to the pantry. The boy winced as the tips of Kyungsoo’s fingers poked hard at his neck, “ow, hyung! Hyung, what are you-”

He had no time to argue with Kyungsoo before he was tossed in through the doors, expecting to smash his face against the back of the cabinet, but only coming to the resistance of air as he sailed into the mysterious room. It only took him a second to take in that the room was empty and another to see the view of the entertainment room before he plunged head first into the ground, rolling until slamming against the wall on the other side. 

The next person to go in was Lay, who had just finished healing Kyungsoo after he pulled a muscle by his neck, rushing in to help Chen who was groaning at the pain rattling his brain. Taking turns to go in one by one as the space allowed, they all filed in and stood baffled at the see through painting. 

“You need to stop egging people on Chen.” Lay sighed, rubbing the ache in his shoulders away until he nodded sadly, stretching out his stiff limbs before getting back up on his feet. 

In the midst of the silence, there’s light taps that come to Suho’s ears. They eventually become louder and more frequent, and by the time the others notice the familiar sound, both Suho and Xiumin are heading towards the door again. 

_ “We forgot to close the door.”  _ Both of them were quick to realize that the door leading to the entertainment room wasn’t closed, showing that someone else was inhabiting the abandoned house.

With a final glance at each other, they begin to summon their powers and sit still until the pull is constantly pulsing through their bodies, eyes lighting up with their shades of blue. They wait until they see a horde of men flow into the entertainment room, guns pointed in every direction in search of the twelve.

With a quick movement, Suho and Xiumin open the door and exit the room swiftly, leaving the others behind with hopes that they’ll stay put. A few others whisper to each other, not really sure what they were thinking, but the next thing they knew, Suho and Xiumin were in front of the painting with guns pointed straight at them.

Suho lets down a shaky hand, praying to himself as his mind focuses on the kitchen sink. He flexes his fingers and balls his hands into fists, and he undoubtedly looks scared, but he still tries anyways.

“You two,” the main officer bellows, stepping forward. “Where are the others?” The tips of Xiumin’s hair begin to frost along with his fingers. He starts to lift his hands up as if in surrender, but when the officer is about to repeat his question, there’s a loud  _ bang! _

The sink explodes, water flowing out of the pipes at such a high speed until it flows smoothly wherever Suho waves his hands. It takes a big surge of courage, but he pushes his palms forward and the water blasts in the men’s direction. All at the same time, Xiumin dashes ahead, darting paths to dodge the barrage of bullets that come after them.

Suho drenches the enemies head to toe while Xiumin grabs a cue stick, freezing it down and landing a blow on one of their heads. Rushing in between them, he brings his hands up and freezes the water on their bodies until they’re too stiff to even move.

Even through the power that unleashes to their full capacity, there’s still more military personnel that flow into the room until it’s too much to handle. By now, Suho is merely splashing water all over the room, and Xiumin’s frost is starting to freeze wherever it touches. It’s sudden, but he watches with dread when he realizes that it crawls up the floor and to the sink. Soon enough, the sink is only a useless block of ice.

Suho squeaks when he isn’t able to summon any more water, and in the middle of his distraction, there’s a soaring pain in his right leg. He yelps and drops to the floor, clenching his bleeding calf and scooting back into the wall. Another boy bursts through the pantry door, bending down and inspecting Suho’s leg.

“Kris,” he wheezes, hands shaking and stained with blood. “What are you doing? Your powers can’t rea-”

“Shut up,” he growls, ripping part of his shirt and leaning over. He wraps his leg in the white cloth tightly. “I need to stop the bleeding until Lay’s able to come out and heal you. You did good enough.”

Kris stands up, chest puffed out and fingers digging into the palms of his hands. Suho doesn’t bother to stop him when he begins to float, and when he drops down to kick off the floor, he’s off to fight himself.

There’s a poof of smoke next to him, along with arms that wrap behind his back and under his knees. In a split second, he’s back in the empty room, Kai settling him onto the floor carefully. Everyone rushes towards him, but Lay is there first and he gets to working right away.

Outside, Kris uses his fists and feet to punch and kick while Xiumin kept fighting with whatever strength he had left. Chen looks out the room, distressed before looking to Kai with pleading eyes.

“Can you teleport me out there?” He asks, clenching Kai’s shoulder. The other only looks back, pain flashing in his eyes; but maybe it’s just fuel that urges him to fight as well, because before he knows it, they’re in the middle of the entire battle.

Chen feels the adrenaline course through his veins, his entire body flowing with power. Kai is close behind him, holding onto his shoulders in hopes that he wouldn’t become a living lightning rod.

Booming streaks of yellow and white flash throughout the room and dispel through his hands. The shocks send the men crashing against each other, groaning and rolling around as their bodies convulse on the floor. 

Luhan is next to come out, even though his energy was drained from the previous incident. The best he can do is try to stop the bullets, but even then, his body is grazed from the projectiles that shoot at him. When there is a successful barrier between the men and the others, he uses the last of his power to once again bend the nozzles of the guns upward. Falling to the floor as his lungs searched for air, he looked up a little too late. He only realizes the pain on the right of his torso when he crashes onto the ground, letting out a cry of pain as his blood begins to slowly string out past his fingers and drip onto the floor. The men resort to pistols, tossing their useless assault rifles to the side.

The boys behind the wall watched with shaky hearts as the others fought to keep the ones back in the room safe, not noticing the cabinet leading to them being torn down by a burly man in an all black making his way in. The jet black uniform stood out in the white room, but none of the others noticed until he let out a gruff laugh. “We’re really capturing a bunch of kids? I thought the boss was kidding when he said you were all as small as pups.” 

Heads whipped over to the large man slowly inching closer to them, hand placed defensively on his gun as the boys hunched over and banded together. Lay blocks Suho’s body from the man’s view as he forces his powers to intensify, arms shaking from how much energy was flowing out from his palms. 

“Now, come on. I don’t want to hurt you, and I’m hoping that you guys feel the same way. I’m just doing my job to keep everyone safe.” 

“If you were doing that then why are you guys shooting at us?!” Baekhyun roared, his pupils shaking as they went back and forth between the man and his friends fighting outside. “We didn’t even do anything wrong!” 

The man sighed and turned around to close the door leading back to the entertainment room, yanking his gun out before spinning it deftly in his hand. “You boys see this? This is a specially issued, semi-automatic assault rifle, fully equipped with a silencer and a red dot sight, see?” He waved the point around so that the red light shone on the walls of the room before continuing. “When we’re being trained for actual combat, we’re only instructed to have these out in case we need to shoot, which is anytime we feel threatened or are in danger.” 

The boys all watched as the man slowly pulled the strap of his gun off his shoulders, completely taking his gun off before tossing it to the side, letting the metal scrape against the floor. 

“We don’t want to shoot, but if you do whatever those boys are doing out there, then we’re gonna have to.” The man glanced out the window to see Chen’s lightning crackling through the air as his eyes burned a neon plasma color. “I don’t really like to say this, either, but there are officers in the military that’ll exercise their power against others. Those ones are usually the jerks and pansies that don’t even know how to stay calm in these kinds of situations.”

Seeing that he had the boys at least somewhat more sane than when he first came into the room, he went down on one knee and placed his hands on his thigh. “I have a family too. It’s me, my beautiful wife and my two kids. I don’t want to have to do this to you kids, but I have to do my job. What happens when I fail to do so?”

The boys stayed quiet as their own families flashed into their minds, the blurry memories fuzzy as they tried to remember. 

“Why do you resist us? Tell me, please?” 

Tao stepped forward almost willingly to speak. “We don’t want to be split up. This is the only family I have. I mean, we have…” His head drooped solemnly as the officer’s eyes softened. He wasn’t looking at a bunch of monsters with “black magic”, but a bunch of kids, scared to death at that. 

“I never said we have to split you all up. We just needed to take you in to make sure you all didn’t accidentally use those powers to hurt anyone else. Heck, the boss will probably give you a decent place to stay and it’ll be ten times better than that place you guys were at before. I mean, not to be nosy about your old house, but it was a little old.” He gave a crooked grin that the others were able to smile to, finally coming across an adult that didn’t want them dead. 

He held out a hand towards the boys, all somewhat willing except for Baekhyun who was trying to pull Chanyeol back. Baekhyun knew that his friend was pretty convinced after the man mentioned that they wouldn’t need to hurt anyone with their powers if they went with him, but he wasn’t. If anything, Baekhyun was even more suspicious about this guy. None of the officers even pitied them when they broke into their house, and Baekhyun  _ knew  _ that this guy wasn’t genuine. 

“So what do you say? Can we do this?”

Before anyone could agree, the door was kicked down by a dark military boot. A flow of riot police went into the room and enclosed the boys against their side of the room, their eyes frenzied after seeing so many guns being pointed at them yet again.

“Wait, don’t shoot! They’re willing to come with us as long as we do this in a calm-”

The one leading the group of officers scoffed before bringing his hand up and shooting the man who was still on his knees, his stance pitiful as his body slumped over to the side. 

“Why…. Why would you shoot him?! He’s your friend!” Tao blubbered, tears streaming down his face as the leader just cocked his gun back again. 

“We’re ordered to go against anyone that refuses to do what they were told. Even this traitor.” The officer spat on the dead body of the man who truly tried to help them, showing no respect for his fellow co-worker. “Plus, he was just a lowly sergeant rank.  _ I’m _ a captain. He had no right to talk that way to me. We can easily replace him, anyways, so it doesn’t matter.” The man cackled, hideous laughter filling the small room. 

Lay was first to crawl over to the man, ignoring the guns following him as he placed his hands over the bullet entrance. His powers flared up until the man spat up blood, suddenly gasping as his eyes looked around to see what was happening. Kyungsoo was next to help Lay haul the man towards their side of the room where Chanyeol stood protectively in front of the three of them, his eyes flashing a dangerous scarlet color as Baekhyun stood next to him, eyes shining just as bright as the anger burned in his chest.

“Y-You guys… You’re all good kids.” The man did his best to sit up despite Lay’s protests, using both hands to ruffle their hair. His giant hands look like helmets on Lay and Kyungsoo’s heads, taking the time to do the same to Sehun and Tao and eventually to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He noticed Baekhyun’s uncertainty towards his act though, giving a small pause before placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Never change how you’re willing to protect others like this. It’s the only genuine thing in this type of corrupted world.“

Lay gave a soft smile as he patched up the man’s bullet wound, continuing to use his powers to stop the bleeding before Kai popped into the room. His appearance made the officers on the other side startled as he ran over to the side with the boys, he himself surprised to see him helping one of the men that were trying to hunt them down. 

Lay’s arms are grabbed by fierce arms and at first, he’s frozen in shock and fear, but when the familiar voice reaches his ears, he calms a bit. “No time to explain.” Kai says quickly, and the two are gone from the room in less than a second.

Suddenly standing over Luhan’s hunched and coiled body, Lay carefully kneels and lies him flat on the floor. Luhan huffs and groans, lips curled as his teeth clenched to hold in the pain that burns his side. He lets out a few sobs, tears trickling down his cheeks and temples as Lay ripped open his shirt and focused on his wound. Hushing him through his broken mumbles, Lay brushes at some of Luhan’s hair that covers his face and tries to focus more.

Luhan’s cries seem to die down as the bullet is pushed out of his body, his skin connecting and tying back together at the hole. Giving off a small, tired smile, Lay begins to stand before he grunts, collapsing above Luhan and elbows on either side of his head. He squeezes his eyes together tightly, blinking them repeatedly, but the dark spots in his vision won’t go away. Watching in horror, Luhan reaches his hands up to Lay’s bleeding shoulder that dyes his white shirt a deep, dark red. He scoots up enough before Lay passes out, face pressed against Luhan’s thighs. It’s a bit slower, but his shoulder begins pushing out the bullet as well.

“Enough of this dark magic, guards! Grab them and let’s get out of here.” The captain barked, taking his leave as his henchmen slowly made their way towards the boys. 

“Don’t come any closer!” Chanyeol cried, his hands shaking as his flames began to engulf his finger tips. “Please…” He didn’t want to have to use his powers, but he didn’t want the man that was so nice to them to have to die.  _ Nobody deserved to die. _

Taking a deep breath, he ignored loud crashes and booms coming from outside to try and summon the power he had tried so desperately to keep away. The way that his stomach was churning made him feel sick, but his adrenaline was pumping just like before and he knew that it was ready. He uses his hand to guide a line between them and the officers, waiting until the first spark is made, burning bigger and brighter until creating a wall of flames across the room. The surprised shouts coming from the other side let him know that he didn’t kill the other men, but this was only supposed to be a distraction for them to make their getaway. 

Baekhyun watched in awe as Chanyeol used his powers, doing the same to absorb the light from the ceiling until bringing it to him. He let the feeling warm his clammy hands until finally blasting it forwards at the men to hopefully knock them down. The fire was too bright and the room was too dark for him to tell what had happened.

“Help!” Luhan screams from outside, trying his best to keep the blood coming from Lay’s shoulder at a minimum.

Maybe it was the fumes coming from the fire that made Tao feel hazy. His mind was blank and all he could do was watch as the others tried their best to keep everyone safe. His body felt heavy and gravity kept yanking him down onto his knees whenever he tried to get up, leaving him useless in the midst of the battle. 

Letting his hands press against the glass, he could only whimper as he saw Xiumin trying his best to defend Lay and Luhan who were both unable to protect themselves. Kris was having a hard time fighting, using up almost all of his energy as his arms and legs bled from being grazed by bullets so many times. Chen and Kai weren’t doing much better on their own, but they did a good job of scaring the men away, using their powers to frighten them to keep their gunshots at bay. 

Tao knew that he could do something. He knew it, but his power didn’t come. No matter how much he waved his hands or focused, the time didn’t stop, and he would only watch as his brothers were hurt. His crying did nothing to affect the nonexistent pull in his stomach either, and his words only got stuck in his throat as one of the riot officers had the audacity to jump through the fire, shaking off the small flames on his uniform to try and get to them. Breath hitching and heart racing, he let his hand curl up into a fist before pounding it on the mirror, releasing the tugging feeling on his shoulders. 

The mirror separating them from the main room seemed to bend and change colors until vanishing completely, the wall disappearing into thin air along with the painting that hung on the opposite side. Kris and Xiumin both turned to see the others for the first time in a while and froze, not wanting to have to face them like this. Bodies splayed out on the ground with blood everywhere, the scene making everyone sick to their stomachs. 

“What are you doing? Run!” Xiumin growled, his breath leaving him as he was tackled by one of the men, his arms aching as the man twisted them harshly into his back.

“No… No, no you can’t do that!” Tao yelped, stumbling over the bodies on the floor to get to Xiumin. No matter how much they called his name, he didn’t stop. Not until reaching Xiumin who was trying his best to give frostbite to the man pushing his buttons. “Tao? What are you doing here? Get back!” 

“He can’t hurt you because I won’t let him.” Tao mumbled, pressing his palm into Xiumin’s shoulder until he was swallowed by a golden light, ultimately disappearing from the room just as the wall had done. 

“Tao stop!” Kris hollered, swooping down and picking him up before tossing him back into the room with the others. Tao was flung down onto Kyungsoo who caught him with ease, worriedly shaking Tao whose pupils were crackling with his signature golden glow. 

“I won’t let you get hurt either.” Tao hugged Kyungsoo while the latter just gasped at the sudden contact, breath leaving him as the light wrapped around the two until Kyungsoo was gone. 

Kai saw the entire scene and ran towards Kris as he carried Tao towards the rest of the others, once again too slow before Kyungsoo vanished. “Tao, what are you doing?! Bring them back!” His voice cracked, continuing to run towards him until being slowed down by the golden rays. Before Kai could try and teleport away, he could feel his entire body being pulled in all directions before he was gone, just as Xiumin and Kyungsoo were.

Tao brought both hands up to the group still located in the room, their eyes going wide as his power snuck up towards them like a fog, gathering around them until they all disappeared as well. Xiumin was first, then Kyungsoo and Kai. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Suho and Sehun were sucked away by Tao’s mysterious power, thus leaving Luhan, Lay, Kris and Chen. Seeing that Luhan and Lay were the closest, Tao let his powers seep out towards Chen and Kris before wandering over to the other two.

The light managed to grasp Chen by his leg before winding around his body and making him vanish as well. Luhan and Lay were far too injured to move and accepted their fate as Tao lightly placed his hands on their shoulders, the two both now gone and only leaving Kris. The boy was using up the last of his energy to escape the golden vines of Tao’s power that was following him around, getting frustrated by the nuisance until flying right down to Tao and grabbing his shoulders roughly.

“What are you doing Tao?! Just stop!” Tao shook his head and let his hands wrap around Kris’ torso, letting his face lean into the boy’s chest one last time. “Don’t do this, Tao…”

“I’m sorry, ge.” Kris’ body began to glow as the golden veil washed over the two of them, his body disappearing into thin air as Tao’s arms held tight until the very end. The next time he opened his eyes, Kris was no longer there, leaving him alone in the room full of men that wanted him dead. 

He slumped down onto his knees and placed his hands up in the air, admitting defeat as the officers pushed him to the ground and cuffed him. They were nothing less than gentle and Tao could have sworn something had cracked as they hauled him up into a chair nearby, using another pair of handcuffs to chain him down. He wasn’t even bothered by it though, only looking towards the room as the captain came back. 

Their so called captain stood proudly as if the capture was his doing, walking with his nose high in the air until he went back into the room where the others were before Tao had made them disappear. A familiar face was struggling to get back onto his feet, his body weak as it tried to compensate for the fact that he had almost died. The man that had been so nice to them was trying his best to apologize and his efforts were crushed in vain as his so called captain took his pistol and shot him between the eyes. 

The bang resonated through Tao’s ears as the man made his way back over to where he was held down. “You’re to stay here until we know what to do with you, but don’t worry. We’ll be back before you die or anything.” He laughed, walking out with his men and even remembering to turn the lights off on the way out. 

Now he was really alone. No friends, no enemies, only the decaying bodies and smell of metal and rust to keep him company. He wasn’t afraid though. He wasn’t afraid that he was left alone in the dark, or about what was going to happen to him. He worried for his friends, but even the tears didn’t fall anymore, leaving his eyes dry and lifeless.

He chose this path and he had to stay strong. It was the only way to keep them all safe right now and hopefully safe for the rest of eternity.

* * *

It was a little calm and relaxing at first, but the longer Tao held on, the more his body seemed to burn and tire. His eyes drooped, and the second he lost track of time was the moment where he realized that he’d been alone for a long, long time. The seconds turned to minutes, which turned to hours, and he wasn’t positive but he could’ve swore that he felt the years eating away at his life. Everything boiled up inside him, but it wasn’t anger. It was warm. Yet, the longer he seemed to keep it there, the heavier the feeling got.

It wasn’t until he felt a strong force condense his body, pushing inward before it expelled that he felt a change. He finally opens his eyes for the first time in forever, batting his lashes with such life as he felt himself slowly grow. His limbs extended, clothes shrinking the larger he seemed to get, and with a final pang in his chest; 

He waits.


End file.
